TWD: Crimson Tears
by Shaw18
Summary: Imagine if Negan's story arc comes to play during the heat of the conflict between Rick and The Governor. (Takes place around S4EPS6). Enjoy!
1. Reality Bites

The Walking Dead:

Crimson Tears

Chapter 1:

Reality Bites

Rick heard his daughter stir in the crib beside his bed, causing him to wake. He continued to lay there with his eyes closed, not wanting to make a sound, wondering if she were going to stay asleep or wake. Since it just felt like he had just gone to bed, he hoped she would stay asleep. Even if it were for another hour or so. He wanted to sleep some more. His body was still sore from all the hard work and maintenance the prison needed.

From keeping the place clean and secure, to the cultivating of the mini garden, as well as the occasional supply run, the work never seemed to cease, even with the help he had. Not to mention there was the group moral that took a toll, even with Herschel's help. Everyone looked at him as a leader and Herschel as a mentor. He had the wisdom that seemed to be a major shortage of these days and even he looked up to him as well.

Yesterday, he spent the whole day outside with Herschel, as he planted tomatoes, cucumbers, zucchini, and peppers. On the last supply run, Glenn and Daryl happened to come across a large supply of seeds of all different types. Most of them were flowers, but there was a number of fruits and vegetables. He hoped after all this time, they were okay to grow. The only way to know, would be to plant them and see what happens.

While he dug holes in the dirt, Herschel told him about his childhood on the farm and what it was like prior to the end of the world. Rick told him about what his life was like before as well. Both had heard each other's life story a number of times already, but it felt nice to discuss what life was like before, even if it felt like a distant memory or dream that with each passing day seemed to slowly fade.

Judith stirred again and this time began to whimper. With a groan, Rick slid out of bed and slipped on his shirt. He approached her crib and peered inside with a warm fatherly look. Judith was curled up in her blanket and her pacifier was beside her at the edge of the crib. When she saw him, she quickly calmed and smiled. As tired as he was, he smiled back at her and bent down to pick her up. She cooed happily and snuggled against his shoulder as he reached for her pacifier and blanket.

He quietly made his way to the front of the prison, hoping that he wouldn't wake anyone up. It was precisely six-thirty in the morning and the sun had begun its slow ascent, creating strips of orange and red in the partially cloudy sky. It was definitely a pretty sight.

He grabbed a steel chair and set it on the grass lawn. He took a seat and sighed as he peered into the distance, watching the sun rise. Judith began to slowly fall asleep as she sucked on the pacifier and clutched both her dad's shirt and the blanket that was wrapped around her. He kissed her tenderly on the head then glanced behind him as he watched Daryl approach.

"Can't sleep?" Rick asked as Daryl took a seat beside him.

"Nah," Daryl shook his head. "Slept a few hours. Wide awake now." He looked at Judith bundled up in his grasp. "She still keeping you up?"

"Not always," Rick shrugged. "Some days she sleeps an extra hour or so. Today." He looked at him. "Well that is a different story."

Daryl chuckled and shook his head. "Yeah," He simply responded as he watched a couple of walkers in the far distance by the woods. They were heading past the prison and posed no threat. "You're a good father Rick."

Rick kissed her on the top of the head again. "Thanks," He smiled at him.

"My father was a complete asshole," Daryl said with a bitter laugh. He cracked his neck and then ran a hand through his greasy hair. "Didn't really give a shit about me and Merle. That's why we were who we were."

Rick gave him an understanding look. "But you aren't that person anymore." He told him calmly. "You have changed. In fact, I bet you would be a great dad."

Daryl shook his head and laughed again. "Me? A dad? Shit." He seemed to be amused by that idea. "I'd need to find a woman first."

Rick laughed with him. "Well that is the easy part." He glanced at Judith again. She was sleeping peacefully against him, far away in dreamland.

"What's it like?" Daryl asked seriously. "You know being a dad?"

Rick gave him a tender look. "It's amazing," He said happily. "When I look at Judith, there's this special bond. Such a deep connection, that I can't quite explain. When I am away from her, there's this emptiness and it can only be filled when I am with her again." He glanced at Judith briefly. "The only comparison was the connection you and Merle had." He looked at Daryl. "When I look at her I also see such pure innocence. She has no idea of the world around her and what it is like." He held off saying the word yet, but he knew that both he and Darryl were thinking it.

"Yeah," Daryl simply responded.

"Do you want to hold her?" He asked despite that she was sleeping.

Daryl was taken back. "You serious?" He asked with uncertainty. She looked so fragile to him.

Rick smiled at him. "Of course," He said as he carefully handed her to him.

Daryl hesitantly took Judith into his arms. She stirred, but didn't wake. He was careful to support her properly as to not wake her. She was much lighter than he thought. He knew that Rick was watching him, but he couldn't look away from her. He felt emotion that he wasn't used to well up inside him as his eyes brimmed with tears. Rick noticed this as well, but didn't say anything, liking the sight of his tough friend showing his softer side.

* * *

The Governor tightly held the machete in his grasp as he eyed the walker stumbling toward their encampment. The walker was extremely mangled with its right arm completely gone. It's left leg was covered in so many bite marks that the tendons and bones showed in a bloody mess. Its jaw was chewed up so badly, that it was nearly gone. Blood and black ooze dripped out from the wounds to its dirty clothes and on to the floor. It noticed him and quickened its pace as best as it could.

The Governor eyed Martinez who stood a few feet away, out of sight with a bat in his hand. He was prepared to attack the walker, when he stopped suddenly. The walker tripped over its own bad leg and weight and landed roughly on the ground, smashing its head on a tree in the process. Its head was crushed immediately, blood and black ooze splattered on the tree.

"Damn," Martinez laughed as he approached the unmoving walker. He pointed his bat at it. "That was unexpected."

The Governor had an amused look on his face as he approached. "Indeed," He said eyeing the walker. He sheathed his machete and grabbed the walker by the feet.

He pulled the walker away and toward a large ditch he had recently dug that was far from the encampment. He tossed it aimlessly inside with a number of other murdered eaters and then turned away from the ditch. He looked at Martinez who had his flask out and offered him a drink.

"Bit early isn't it?" He asked him.

Martinez shrugged. "We haven't slept yet," He said with a twinkle of excitement in his eyes.

The Governor frowned and took the flask from him. He took a swig and then handed it back to him. "That's true." He stifled a yawn.

They carefully walked the perimeter of the camp, keeping a close eye on any walkers. "What's on the schedule today?" Martinez asked as he pocketed the flask.

"Well I was thinking of strengthening our fence," He said slightly hiding his true intention.

After the failure of the last attack on the prison, he vowed that he would have his revenge at all cost. Other than a few people that lived with him in this current camp, he didn't really care what happened to the others in the process. All he wanted to was to take the prison from Rick and his group. He hated the smug look he had and wanted to personally kill him. But of course, he couldn't tell anyone his plans. He had to slowly manipulate them in thinking that Rick and his group were the enemy and were going to steal everything they had here. It would be the only way to get the prison.

From the moment he lost the last altercation, he hardly slept a full night, without replaying what happened in his dreams. Sometimes he was shot and killed by Rick. Taken hostage and tortured by him in other dreams. Or he was being chased by him from the prison and bitten by a walker in the process. In the end, all of his dreams did have Rick in them.

He knew that he was obsessed with Rick and in his mind it made sense. Before he met Rick, he had a secure camp full of families young and old. With the world around them going to hell, he managed to keep a small piece of what life used to be. But the moment he heard about the prison, he lost everything and Rick was the cause of that. Rick brought death and despair whenever he was around.

A walker approached him from behind a tree. He quickly cut its head off and then pushed its body aside. After the perimeter sweep, he and Martinez would remove all the walkers and place their bodies in the trench. He held the machete tightly and glanced at Martinez briefly.

"I was also thinking of going into town to get some supplies," He continued, "We are a bit short on medical supplies."

Martinez nodded in agreement. "Good," He said without a second thought "I'll join you."

The Governor looked at him. "If you want," He simply said.

It took them less than an hour to cover the entire perimeter of the camp and ended up killing nearly a dozen walkers in the process. The hard part was bringing them to the ditch, which took a while, but they did. By the time they had finished, the both of them had worked up quite a sweat. Martinez's shirt was covered in blood and dirt, while the Governor's was surprisingly clean of blood, but was full of dirt as well. When they returned to the camp, they were taken over by two eager survivors who wanted to lend a hand.

The Governor approached his trailer and told Martinez that he'd catch a few hours of sleep, before they'd leave for their supply run. Martinez agreed and wished him a good night's rest with a playful wink, before he turned and made his way to his trailer. He took a swig from his flask and then stepped into is trailer.

The Governor quietly entered his trailer and eyed Meghan sleeping on the bed like an angel. She was clutching her teddy bear tightly and had a small smile on her face, lost in her dreams far from the reality of the hell that surrounded them all. He approached her and pulled up the blanket to cover her. He watched her for a moment or two with a happy look on his face, before he turned away from her.

He made his way to the other bed as quietly as he could, which was at the far end of the trailer, where Lilly peacefully slept. He removed his boots, pants, and shirt and tossed them aside. He slid into bed beside her. She smiled and snuggled against him, enjoying the feel of him beside her again.

"Took you long enough," She softly said without opening her eyes.

"Well I am here," He said kissing her on the forehead and then lips.

"Good," She said kissing his neck and then snuggling against his shoulder.

* * *

From a safe distance, Dwight watched the Governor and Martinez walking around what looked like a small encampment through his binoculars. He was hiding behind a large tree, like a fly on the wall. He saw them expertly kill a number of walkers and then drag their unmoving bodies to an area opposite of where he was hiding. He couldn't tell where they were putting them, but he assumed that they were putting them in a pile or some hole of some sort.

He scanned the encampment and counted a dozen total different trailers, trucks, cars, and vans where he assumed people were living in. He obviously couldn't tell how many were there, but it really didn't matter. Not compared to where he came from.

"Dwight," Paula said to him through the radio.

Dwight continued to scan the camp as he reached for his radio. "Yes," He simply said. He watched the Governor step into his trailer and close the door behind him.

"What's your thought with this one?" She asked him. She was sitting on the hood of her car about a half a mile down the road with Michelle, waiting for him to return.

"Small," Dwight simply responded. "There are supplies there I guarantee it." He eyed a small garden and beside it a number of buckets that seemed to be filled with most likely rainwater. "But I really don't see it worthwhile with this one."

Paula glanced at Michelle who currently stabbed a walker in the head. She pushed the body away and then wiped the blood on its dirty clothing. Michelle lazily made her way back to the car and leaned against it, wishing that she could be asleep instead of out here this early in the morning. She knew that both Paula and Dwight felt the same.

"Is he there?" Paula asked referring to the Governor.

"Yes," Dwight simply responded.

"Good," Paula responded. "Come back to the car and let's go home. Neegan will definitely want to keep an eye on this group now regardless of what supplies they have."

* * *

Hope you enjoy my twist on TWD story! More to come soon!

Hershel


	2. A Slice of Life

The Walking Dead: Crimson Tears

Chapter 2

A Slice of Life

Glenn and Maggie laid nude in the watchtower beneath a thick quilt. She was snuggled up against him, with her head resting on his chest, while he held on to her not wanting to let go. He enjoyed the warmth and the feeling of her beside him. Plus, the feeling of her bare breasts against his skin as well.

He watched her still fast asleep, looking like an angel. He thought about what he loved most about her. He couldn't think of just one thing. He loved everything about her, whether she was awake or asleep. But if he had to choose, it was her strength. She showed amazing strength, even after all that she'd been through.

He thought about when he first met her and how he was immediately attracted to her. Yet, she didn't feel the same as he did. He wasn't totally sure what he was wanting at that time, aside from trying to find a safe place to stay and hoping that Carl would pull through the gunshot wound. She on the other hand seemed to be even more confused about herself and what she wanted.

Yet, from the first time they had sex in the small drug store to the sex they had last night, everything grew even more clear. He loved her and she loved him. Lust was not the only part of the equation. Sure there was still lust between them, but now love was a major part of it.

Maggie stirred in his arms and opened her eyes. "Morning," She smiled at him.

"Good morning," He said brushing aside her bangs. He kissed her on the lips. "Hope you slept well."

Maggie sighed happily. "Sure I did," She said. "Like a baby." She leaned close to his ear. "In fact, I am still feeling a bit sore."

Glenn laughed at her comment. "For real?" He asked.

She gave him a seductive look. "Oh yeah," She said licking her lips. "You definitely should do that again."

Glenn kissed her deeply. "Well now that I know you like it," He said. "I definitely will."

Maggie felt herself tremble at the thought of it and said, "Good." She gave him a sudden serious look. "How are you feeling?"

It had been a week since the deadly sickness that had plagued the prison had been fully cured. Everyone that had been sick, including Glenn, was feeling much better. A couple were still bedridden, but most, including Glenn, were able to move around freely. He did get tired at times, with him not feeling like his usual self. All in all, he was thankful that he was feeling much better.

"I feel good," He said giving her a reassuring look. "Like I can take on the world."

"Good," She said kissing him.

Glenn opened his mouth to say something, when he heard Daryl calling out to them. Quickly, he slid on his pants and stepped on to the small balcony area that surrounded the small room they had slept in. He peered down, trying to shield his eyes from the already bright sun.

"Hey stallion," Daryl called out to him. "Bring your pale ass down here for breakfast."

Glenn saw Daryl was with Rick and Carl, who all seemed to find the whole scene pretty funny. "Be right down," He shouted to them. He reentered the room and found Maggie fully dressed.

"Breakfast?" She asked tossing him his shirt.

"Yep," He said as he quickly dressed.

Fifteen minutes later, Rick was standing apart from the group with a bowl of plain oatmeal in his hand. Judith was fast asleep and would be for another hour or so. Carl or Beth would take care of her when she woke up. It was a relief that there were so many people who wanted to help with Judith. He considered it a major blessing.

He took a spoonful of oatmeal and watched everyone sitting at the benches discussing whatever was on their minds. Glenn, Maggie, Beth, and Herschel sat at one bench. Tyreese, Sasha, and Bob were at another. Carl and the rest of the kids sat at a third bench. Carl was reading a comic book, while the rest of them read over his shoulder. He didn't seem to mind. Daryl sat alone on top of the fourth bench eating oatmeal, lost in his own thoughts.

Herschel stood up and using his crutches made his way toward Rick. He gave him a warm smile, before he began. "I saw what you did earlier."

Rick was confused. "What are you talking about?" He asked.

"With Daryl this morning," Herschel said as he leaned against his crutch, using a small amount of his weight so he wouldn't fall over. "Daryl and Judith."

Rick understood what he was talking about, but he wasn't sure why he was bringing it up. "You were watching that?" He asked.

"I couldn't sleep," He said with a small shrug. "Went on a small stroll." He glanced at his crutches and then chuckled. "I saw you guys out there and was thinking about joining you, but didn't want to get in between that bromance the both of you had."

Rick laughed and glanced at the group again. "You could have," He simply said.

"Nah," Herschel said with a nonchalant wave of his hand. "In reality, I needed a bit of me time. It's funny when you think of what we have lost these days, yet it is still nice to be alone with your own thoughts as company."

Rick took a spoonful of oatmeal. "Is everything okay?" He asked.

"Yeah," Herschel said with a reassuring smile. "Just an old man and his thoughts."

Rick nodded and saw Daryl approaching. "Rick," He said glancing at the both of them. "Herschel."

"What's up?" He asked.

"I still have the list of supplies that Glenn and I weren't able to get yesterday," He said, "I was thinking of going out with him again to the next town over. It's a few hour drive, but I have a feeling that we will be able to get everything we need over there."

Rick nodded. "Sounds good," He said. "Be safe."

Daryl then turned away from them and returned to the benches, to tell Glenn about what he had planned. Glenn agreed and finished his breakfast quickly, deciding that it would be better to leave now, then later. The both of them said their goodbyes and then drove away from the prison. Sasha and Tyreese both closed and locked the gates behind them and watched as they drove away from the prison.

"We should go out there and help as well," Sasha said to her brother as they made their way back to the benches.

"You think Rick would allow it?" Tyreese looked at her.

Sasha shrugged. "I don't know, but it doesn't hurt to ask."

In the car, Darryl looked at Glenn who was driving and keeping his eyes peeled on the road. So far there were no signs of any walkers, which was exactly what they wanted. "So you enjoying yourself up there?" He asked referring to the two of them in the watchtower this morning.

Glenn glanced at him and pretended to not know what he was talking about. "What?" He asked.

Daryl shook his head. "Oh please," He said, "Everyone knows you enjoy roasting the drumstick."

Glenn nearly swerved at his comment. "Wow," He said with a laugh. "I have never heard someone call it that."

Daryl ignored him. "Well I hope you are being careful," He said, "I can't speak for Rick with his kid, but it aint smart to bring a kid into this world." He thought about how much he enjoyed holding Judith and despite how good it felt, it didn't out-weight the dangers of the world, both living and dead. "Specially one who is gonna be part Korean with a Southern accent." He shook his head at the thought of that combination. "Damn."

Glenn had to chuckle at him and the thought of a kid like that. "We are careful," He said not wanting to discuss this with him. "And we don't plan on having any kids just to let you know. This is not a safe world for them."

"Smart man," Daryl said as he eyed a number of walkers along the road. They turned to face their car as they drove past. Hey kept an eye on them through the side mirror, until they were out of sight.

* * *

When Sasha and Tyreese returned to the benches, they immediately approached Rick who had just finished eating. He saw them and gave them a kind smile. Herschel was still beside him and eyed the two of them with a gentle expression.

"Rick," Sasha said as she approached. "I wanted to ask for a small favor."

Rick looked at her with wonder, hoping that the favor wasn't too extreme. Not only did he hardly know them, there weren't many favors to give out as well. "What's up?" He asked.

Tyreese glanced at his sister briefly, hoping and making sure that she didn't say anything to cross the line. She did have a bad habit of crossing certain boundaries. "We want to really pull our weight around here," She continued in a serious manner. She took a step toward him. They had already had this conversation a number of times with him and each time, they were able to help out a bit more.

Rick and Herschel glanced at each other briefly. "I see," He asked, "And what do you have in mind?"

"Well since Glenn and Daryl went out to look for supplies," Sasha continued. "I was wondering if my brother and I could do the same." She glanced at Tyreese briefly. "We know of a few places that may have supplies a few hours ago."

Rick looked at Tyreese and then at Sasha. "You guys really want to do this?" He asked even though he knew they were.

Tyreese nodded. "Yes," He said. "You accepted us back here, even after everything that happened." He clasped his hands together behind his back and thought of the Governor and his insanity. "All we really want to do is really help out here."

Rick glanced at Herschel, who promptly nodded a yes. "Sounds good," Rick licked his dry lips and ran a hand through his hair. "The more supplies, the better." He said happy that they made the offer. The extra help would certainly be beneficial.

Tyreese and Sasha glanced at each other briefly in relief and surprise that they had gotten permission. "Thank you," Sasha said with a smile as they followed Rick toward the front of the prison where the vehicles were.

* * *

Glenn parked the car on the edge of 1rst and Main street, where there was a row of random shops on either side. He stepped out of the car and inhaled the air that had a sour bad scent to it. A scent that he knew far too well. The sun was beating down on his face and it was extremely hot, despite it was barely noon. He closed the door behind him and glanced at Daryl who scanned the streets with his crossbow in his grasp.

"I go right," Daryl said looking at Glenn, "You go left."

Glenn nodded in agreement. "Sounds like a plan." He turned toward the first store, which was a rundown looking Burger King. He doubted there would be anything worthwhile in there, aside from a first aid kit, which he would take. "Meet you back here in thirty minutes?"

Darryl seemed to ponder the idea for a moment, before he agreed. "See you," He said walking toward the first store.

Glenn approached the Burger King cautiously as he kept a watchful eye out for any walkers. The windows of the front doors were completely shattered and the glass spread out on the floor on either side of it. The windows on either side of the door had large cracks in them, but weren't broken. There was an awful smell coming from within the store, which almost made him not enter. But he knew that if there was a chance to find supplies, especially medical, then it was worth it.

He stepped into the store and scanned the inside, trying to ignore the rotten smell of bad meat, mold, and anything else that could make that bad of a scent. He saw there was a walker impaled by a broken broomstick into the wall, by the far end of the store. The walker smelled him and reached out to him groaning. It didn't pose an immediate threat, so he ignored it and continued to search for any supplies. It didn't take long and all he found was a beat up first aid kit by the empty register. Inside the kit, was burn cream, an assortment of bandages, Tylenol, and Pepto Bismol pills. He took it, placing it in his bag, and then left to search the other stores on the street.

The next store was a hardware store, which was empty. The music store had a few walkers in it, but of course even if there weren't any in there, he felt that there wouldn't be anything worthwhile in there. There was a comic book store next to that, where he grabbed a few comic books for Carl and anyone else that wanted to read them.

He exited the comic book store and entered the next store, which was a clothing store. The place smelled moldy and there was hardly anything left in there. What was left, was either too big, too small, or completely horrible looking. At the far end of the store by the register he saw a man on the floor with a gun in his hand. Blood and brain matter was splattered on the floor and wall from himself committing suicide. He took the gun and then left the store without taking anything else.

The next store was a candy store and the moment he entered, he saw a tall and thin male standing by a large gumball machine. He saw Glenn and quickly pointed his shotgun at him. Glenn at the same time had his gun aimed at the guy. Neither of them attempted to lower their guns, wondering and waiting who would make the next move.

Glenn narrowed his eyes at him and tightened his grip on his gun. He suddenly heard movement behind him. He hoped it was Daryl, but the moment he tried to cautiously turn around to take look, he felt a sudden immense feeling of pain as he was struck on the side of his head. He dropped his gun and collapsed the floor, as his vision blurred. Blood oozed out of his head wound and darkness overtook him.

He woke a few minutes later, finding himself tied up in the back of the store to a small table that was bolted to the floor. His head was pounding painfully and blood covered half of his face. He felt dizzy and his vision was a bit blurry. Amidst the blurred vision, he saw two men standing a few feet from him watching him intently.

"Hey there," One of the men said.

Glenn glared at the man. He was tall, skinny, with long hair that was tied in a ponytail. "What do you want?" He saw the other man was chewing noisily on a large laffy taffy.

"Your stuff," The man said in a tough tone. He held a semi-automatic in his grasp and a large machete on his belt.

Glenn groaned and shook his head. "Take it," He said hoping that Daryl would come and save him. These guys didn't look like the ones that would leave anyone alive.

The man gave him a surprised look. "That's it?" He asked in disbelief. "Just like that?" He took a step toward him. "You aren't going to put up a fight?"

Glenn glared at him again and tried to break out of the tied up rope around his wrists. It was far too tight and the rope was cutting his skin. "Untie me then," He said gruffly, "And then we will see."

The man looked at his friend who continued to eat candy noisily. "A jokester," He said pointing to him mockingly. "What do I hate most of all?"

"A jokester," Glenn guessed.

The man nodded. "You got it," He said snapping his fingers loudly. "So let's not waste any more time here, since we have places to be." He tapped his gun against his knee. "One of us is going to kill you and you have to decide who will do it." He drew a dangerous laugh. "It's a little game I like to play."

Glenn didn't answer. He glared at the both of them, hiding back his fear that seemed to overflow like a boiling pot of water. It was beginning to blind him, adding to the blurred vision he had. His heart was pounding loudly, he wondered if they could hear it.

"No answer," The man said pointing his gun at him. "Guess I will do it." He took a step toward him. "I always wanted to kill me a Chinese man." He winked.

At that moment, an arrow shot out of nowhere, piercing him in the throat. He began to choke on his own blood and collapsed to the floor in a bloody heap. The other man prepared to shoot Daryl, but wasn't quick enough. An arrow pierced him in the heart, killing him instantly. The man dropped his shotgun and fell to the floor. A bloodied piece of candy dropped out of his open mouth and on to the floor.

"How many times do I have to save your pretty ass?" Daryl asked as he approached Glenn.

Daryl cut the rope around Glenn's wrists and then stood up to retrieve the guns. "Thanks," Glenn said rising to his feet. He eyed the two men on the ground, wondering who they were.

"You okay?" Daryl asked looking at him.

"Yeah," He simply responded.

Daryl searched through their pockets finding nothing important. He did grab the machete off the guy's belt taking it for himself. The other man had a machete, which he handed to Glenn. He was about to stand up, when he saw a weird looking scar on the man's forehead. He pushed aside the man's bangs and saw a W cut into his forehead. The other man had the same thing cut into his forehead.

"What the hell?" Daryl asked studying the both of them briefly, wondering who they were, where they came from, and why they did this to themselves.

Glenn squinted and saw what Daryl was talking about. "W?" He asked, thinking the same thing that Daryl was.

Daryl stood up when he heard voices from the outside, probably a store or two over. "We should go," He said quietly enough that only Glenn could hear. He motioned toward the backdoor.

Glenn followed Daryl toward the back of the store. He held the shotgun tightly in his hands, trying to ignore the painfully spasm in his head. Every step was torture, but he knew he had to keep moving if he wanted to stay alive. He took one quick glance at the two fallen men that only moments ago prepared to kill him, before he followed Daryl out the back door.


	3. DEADication

The Walking Dead: Crimson Tears

Chapter 3 DEADication

The Governor sat on top of his trailer with Lilly by his side, while they both watched Meghan playing on the ground bedside the trailer. She was humming a song to herself, while she played with her two favorite dolls. She was dressing them and undressing them, with the random of assortment of clothes she had.

Lilly was glad that Meghan could play like this, seemingly without a care in the world. As an adult it was hard enough to deal with the dramatic changes the apocalypse brought and she understood it. But with children, it was much different. Meghan, for example, understood that the walkers were dangerous and that she should stay away from them, but she didn't know why.

Lilly looked at the Governor and touched his hand. "I don't know if you heard or not," She said, "But people here are talking."

The Governor gave her a weird look. What are they say?" He asked.

Lilly glanced at Meghan briefly. "Everyone has noticed the increase of walkers lately and are wondering if it is still safe here."

He wasn't expecting her to say that, but he also wasn't surprised that they were discussing it. Safety and survival was the most important thing in his eyes, as well as everyone else in the camp. Yet, it was far too early to tell them everything about Rick's group and the prison. He wanted to slowly show them how perilous and crazy they were, so they could clearly follow his lead.

He knew that even if he strengthened the fence around the camp, it still wouldn't be strong enough. There were far too many loose ends here. After the destruction of his first camp, the prison was the next safest place he knew of. It was only a matter of time before he took it over.

"It makes sense," He said, "This place is only temporary."

Lilly gave him a sudden look. "What are you talking about?"

"Well as we previously spoke about," He began, "I promised you, that I'd keep you guys safe and I will do just that. There is only so much we could do with this place." He gave her a reassuring look and squeezed her arm gently. "It's only a matter of time before this place is overrun with walkers."

She gave him an uncertain look. "You sound pretty certain about that."

He shrugged and glanced at Martinez who approached. "I am not," He told her, hiding his true intentions and desires. "But with the recent rise of walkers in this area, it is only a matter of time."

Lilly looked at Martinez who was kneeling beside Meghan, who asked him if he wanted to play with her. He smiled at her, but politely declined telling her that he had business to attend to. He did tell her that he would play with her another time.

"That's true," She agreed with him, trying to ignore the feeling of dread in the pit of her stomach.

"Listen I got to go," He said looking at her.

Lilly gave him a concerned smile. "Be safe," She took his hand and kissed it. "Come back to us."

He leaned close kissing her. "I will," He told her. He made his way off the trailer using the ladder at the end with Lilly following closely behind.

He said goodbye to Meghan, who promptly gave him a tight hug. Lilly watched as he bent down kissing her on the top of the head, before he turned and walked away with Martinez discussing the exact plan for their supply run. Lilly watched them walking away as Tara approached from her trailer.

"Hey," Lilly said to her, keeping her eyes on them.

Tara crossed her arms nervously over her chest. "What did he end up saying?" She asked.

Lilly motioned for her to follow her a few feet from her daughter so she wouldn't be able to hear what they were discussing. "Not much," She told her. "Just that he'd do whatever it takes to keep us safe."

"Everyone here?" Tara asked with uncertainty.

She didn't trust him one bit. There was something behind his scarred eyes that he kept hidden from everyone. From the moment she met him, she saw it. She saw it through his tough composure and brave words. Her gut was telling her that there was something about him that gave her the creeps and she always trusted her gut. She wondered how many others felt this way.

"I know that you are scared," She tried to reassure her. "To be honest, I am just as scared." She thought of the Governor and the strength that he gave her. "But I trust him."

Tara sighed and ran a hand through her hair. She started to play with it anxiously. "I don't know," She said shaking her head.

"Look at it this way," Lilly told her. "Let's say you and Alisha leave now." She knew that Alisha really wouldn't. In fact, she wouldn't be having this conversation. She was the tougher of the two in their relationship. "You would be out there alone to fend for yourselves. Think about how difficult that would be."

Tara didn't like the thought of that. "You are right," She agreed. "It was hard enough before we met him."

"Exactly," Lilly gave her shoulder an affectionate squeeze. "Trust me. Everything will work out."

"Aunt Tara," Meghan called out to her.

Tara looked at her and smiled. "What's up Meghan?" She asked.

"Do you want to play?" She asked her sweetly.

Tara glanced at her sister and then at Meghan as she brushed aside her bangs. "Sure," She said with a smile. "I'd love to."

XXXXXXX

Daryl hid behind the last store on the street and held up a hand, halting Glenn who was ready to pass out. He leaned against the wall to gain his breath and composure. Everything was slowly spinning, like he was drunk.

He didn't think he was hurt that bad, but with head wounds, you never knew. Bumping your head could lead to getting a concussion. With the amount of blood that he had lost from the cut, he had a feeling that he definitely had one. Yet, he pressed on.

Daryl peered around the side of the store and saw three guys he didn't recognize carrying heavy artilleries searching the stores for them. He knew he could take one or two of them. But the third one would be too difficult. Glenn wasn't in the best shape to mount an attack and he had no idea how many more guys were out there searching for them.

He looked at their car that was parked by the side of the road mere feet away. It was so close he knew that he could quickly make a dash for it himself. But Glenn on the other hand, it may be a bit more difficult. He was a tough one, but he had already taken such punishment. Yet, they had to make a run for it, if they wanted to escape without any more fighting.

He motioned to Glenn that the both of them would make a run for it. Glenn nodded and watched as Daryl waited for the right moment. The three men entered the comic book store and it was then when the both of them ran to their car. Daryl took the driver's seat and Glenn the passenger's seat. He turned on the car and drove away, just as their rear window was shot at. It shattered immediately spewing glass throughout the back of the car.

"You okay?" Daryl asked as he looked through the rear mirror, to see if they were being followed. So far they weren't.

"Yeah," Glenn said clutching his gun tightly. He kept an eye out for these guys, praying that they wouldn't follow them and to his relief they didn't.

Glenn wrapped his head with a roll of gauze and tried to clean some the blood off his face with extra gauze, but it was too painful so he stopped. He tossed the bloody gauze out the window and then leaned back in his seat to get more comfortable as Daryl sped back to the prison.

They pulled up to the gate hours later and saw Carl and Beth first, who were the ones who let them in. They saw the shot up car and the wounded Glenn, but other than glancing at each other, they didn't say anything. As curious as they were, the both of them knew that they'd be hearing about it pretty soon.

Daryl parked the car and was about to grab the bags, when Carl and Beth volunteered to do it. Maggie exited the prison with Herschel following loosely behind. She saw Glenn and the blood and on his face and shirt. She grew worried and helped him out of the car as Herschel stood a few feet away wondering what happened to his son in law. Rick approached Daryl and asked what went happened.

"Glenn was ambushed by these guys," Daryl said with a frustrated look. "A group of some sort."

Rick glanced at Glenn who was making his way with Maggie and Herschel to their rooms to get cleaned up. "The Governor?" He asked going on instant alert. He knew that the Governor was planning a revenge scheme of sort. He would be doing the same if he was in his shoes.

Daryl shook his head. "No," He said. "These guys were different." He made a face. "Worse."

Rick gave him an uncertain look as they made they pace around the front of the prison. "What do you mean?" He asked wondering who could be worse than the Governor.

He wished he could have a moment of peace in this world full of walkers. It seemed to be that there was one threat after another, aside from the walkers, and he knew that it would always be that way. When pushed to the brink of death, most people go crazy and do whatever it takes to survive. He understood it and he did some crazy things so far to survive, but attacking the innocent is something that he couldn't do.

"The guys the attacked us had a W carved into their forehead," Daryl said.

"What?" Rick was both shocked and not at the same time. He had met far too many insane people so far.

"Yeah," Daryl said shaking his head. "I don't think it is the last time we have seen them."

Rick's jaw quivered furiously. "Damn," He said not liking the idea of having to prepare for another major altercation.

Inside the prison, Glenn sat on his bed as Herschel stitched up his head wound. Fresh blood trailed out of the wound as Herschel worked. Glenn was grimacing in pain the whole time. Maggie and Beth stood in the room watching their father and Glenn nervously, trying to stay out of the way, but helping their dad if he needed it. Glenn's wound looked far worse than it really was, but everyone knew it was a close call.

Glenn grunted as Herschel finished the last stitch and then wiped the blood off with some gauze. He added antiseptic to clean the wound one last time, which hurt almost as much as getting hit in the first place. Then he finished it with a butterfly bandage, which would help keep it together. It would be at least a week before he could take the stitches out.

"All done," Herschel said as he wiped his hands with a rag. He tossed everything else in the garbage and then stood up. "Here are some painkillers. You will need them." He handed him a small pill container.

"Thanks," Glenn said giving him a reassuring smile. He still felt awful and wanted to rest.

"You have a mild concussion," Herschel said, "I would like you to stay off your feet for a week. We will see how you feel then, about doing some minor work here."

Maggie thanked her father and then watched as the two of them left. She turned to her husband and blinked away her tears as she took a seat beside him. She held on to him tightly, as if he would float away like a balloon. She leaned against him, ignoring that his blood was staining her clothes. She kissed him and looked him deep in the eyes.

"What happened out there?" She asked nervously.

Glenn drew a breath. "It was stupid." He shook his head. "I was stupid."

Maggie wondered what he was talking about. "What?" She asked giving him an unsure look. She took his hand into hers.

"I should've been more careful," He continued. "Thinking that I was alone, I entered a store and saw someone there. Before I knew it, I was attacked and knocked out." He paused thinking back to his brush with death. Something he was coming to close with more than once. "If it weren't for Daryl." He stopped and closed his eyes as a wave of dizziness passed through him.

"Shh," Maggie said helping him to a laying position. "We will discuss this later." She said calmly, yet assertively. "Get some rest." She stood up to leave.

Glenn reached out to her. "Stay here," He said weakly.

Maggie smiled and nodded. She slid in bed next to him and he wrapped an arm around her. He drifted off to sleep moments later. Maggie kissed him on the cheek and then snuggled against him. She closed her eyes and thought about how thankful she was to have him back alive and well. He almost died out there again and she didn't know what she'd be able to do if she lost him. A few minutes later, she was asleep as well.

XXXXXXX

The Governor tossed a bound up steel fence in the trunk of the truck that he was lucky enough to find in the hardware store. He tossed the other one and then glanced at Martinez who was carrying two in each hand. The muscles in his arms and chest seemed to bulge as he effortlessly threw them in the trunk beside the others.

"Damn it's hot," He said wiping the sweat off his brow with the front of his hand, smearing dirt in the process.

"Yeah," The Governor agreed. His shirt was sticking to his chest and back.

They rested for a moment, taking a few sips of their water, before turning back to finish their work. They had piled up in the front of the hardware store and began place them in the back of the truck. It assorted from different tools, pieces of wood, tape, gloves, plant seeds, fresh potted dirt, sandbags, and other items that they thought would come in handy. They had hit jack pot.

When they finished, they went to the local Payless and he grabbed an assortment of shoes for him, Lilly, and Meghan. Martinez found a pair of boots that he like and switched his old pair for it. They left the store and grabbed all the socks that were still on the shelf on the way out.

The next store was a subway and had a walker that resembled an overweight Jared banging on the front door, smearing blood in the process. Martinez joked about it and then told him how much he missed their sandwiches. The Governor laughed and told him that he like the good ol' Jewish dinner. Pastrami on rye with a side potato salad or coleslaw. Add in a soda or beer and he was in heaven.

For another hour or so, they searched through the rest of the stores on the street, grabbing a few items of food and a small amount of medical supplies. The last store was a toy store and the Governor searched for the perfect toy to bring Meghan. He found a beautiful Porcelain Doll, that resembled his daughter before she turned. He grew teary eyed as he took it off the shelf.

The moment he stepped out of the store beside their truck, he saw five men approaching with their guns ready for a fight, but not pointed at them. Martinez pointed his gun at them as the Governor quickly reached for his. He aimed it at them as their leader approached.

"The name is Craig," he introduced himself. He motioned for his men to lower their guns and they reluctantly did.

The Governor didn't respond as he continued to eye them suspiciously. They all looked dangerous and far too comfortable with their weapons. Martinez stood beside him, thinking the same exact thing. He lowered his duffle bag to the ground, while the governor didn't.

"We aren't here to fight," Craig continued. "I just want to talk like civilized people."

"Who are you people?" The Governor asked.

Craig chuckled and shook his head. "It's going to be like that," He said. "Fine." He introduced the rest of his group.

The Governor didn't care who they were by name. He wanted to know who they were exactly, where they were from, and what they wanted. But he highly doubted that he would get an answer from them, at least not a truthful one.

"Are you going to lower your guns?" Craig asked eyeing them in their grasps.

The Governor didn't want to, so he didn't. But he slowly and cautiously emptied his bags into the truck. Martinez stood in the same spot, watching them intently. "What do you want?" He asked them.

Craig licked his lips. "I want you to lower your gun," He said not caring that he had put his belongings in the truck. It would soon be his anyways. "I would feel much more comfortable if you did."

"Not going to happen," Martinez said angrily.

Craig ignored him. "I saw the doll you put in your truck," He said with a small, yet dangerous smile. "Is it for your daughter?"

Something in the Governor suddenly snapped and he quickly shot Craig in the throat. The bullet went right though striking one of the men behind him in the head. Both fell to the ground in a bloody heap. Martinez shot another one as the Governor went to shoot the last one. The man managed to shoot at him, but missed striking their pickup truck in the door.

The Governor shot the man and then approached Craig who was on the ground choking on his own blood. He tried to curse him out, but managed to spew blood bubbles instead. The Governor pointed his gun at him and with a scary look in his eyes and face, shot him twice in the face. He stood there for a second watching as blood trailed out of the bullet holes, before he grabbed their weapons and anything else he thought would be of importance from them.

He returned to the truck with Martinez and drove away from the scene silence, wondering who they were, what they wanted, and where they were from. He hoped that they weren't from the prison, recruited by Rick who seemed so inviting one moment and then chaotically unstable the next. Despite the attack, he was thankful, that they were not only leaving alive, but also getting plenty of supplies. He didn't notice though, that the porcelain doll he had taken for Meghan, was broken into a few pieces, from the bullet that struck their truck.


	4. Red Dead Nightmare

The Walking Dead: Crimson Tears

Chapter 4 Red Dead Nightmare

Tyreese glanced at Sasha as they cautiously entered the dimly lit liquor store. He wasn't much of a drinker and before the apocalypse, the only time he did was on the holidays. His sister on the hand, loved to drink, and did it on the weekends. Still she was extremely cautious about what she drank. Of course now, with all the dangers the new world possessed, it gave even more a reason to drink.

Sasha held her gun ready for any walkers. She saw two in the middle of the store by an aisle of vodka. There were half a dozen aisles in total, each of them carrying an assortment of alcohol. There were wines, beers, whiskeys, bourbons, scotches, and vodkas. Along the wall were jars of candy marinating in alcohol. On the opposite wall were bags of alcohol to make different types of margaritas.

The walkers turned toward them and headed in their direction, knocking over a number of bottles. They rolled off the shelf and shattered when they landed on the ground. One of walkers slipped on the liquid and landed on the ground roughly, knocking over a few more bottle. The other walkers made their way toward them, groaning ravenously.

Sasha aimed her gun at them and prepared to shoot them, when her brother halted her. He motioned that they should kill them quietly with their machetes. Agreeing with him, she switched her gun for her machete and with her brother by her side, the both of them killed the walkers silently and effectively. Once they were dead and there were no signs of anymore walkers, they searched through the store for whatever alcohol they wanted to take.

She thought back to one her first drunk experiences when she was around fourteen years old. She had gotten so drunk that she wandered outside through the streets, where she found a random cat. She sat there petting and wouldn't budge until her mother allowed her to adopt it.

The first time Tyreese got drunk, he decided to play football with his buddies in the park. There was a girl watching that he liked, so he tried to show off his skills, by promptly kicking the ball into a large puddle in the grass field. He then tried to get it, not realizing how deep the puddle really was and ended up getting soaked and dirty.

Sasha stood in the wine aisle debating what type she wanted to bring back with them. Semi sweet was one of her favorites, but she also like a good cold bottle of Moscato. Despite there not being a way to refrigerate it, she grabbed a few bottles of it and placed it in the box with cardboard safety dividers so the bottles wouldn't break. She still had lots of room, so she added other random wines from Muscat to Merlots.

She glanced at her brother who was standing by the checkout counter, flipping through a magazine of the world best whiskies. He noticed her watching him and promptly closed the magazine. He set it back on the counter and then approached her, carrying the box of random bottles he had placed in there.

"Are you ready?" He asked her. He had a sense of urgency in his eyes.

Sasha glanced at the bottles in his box. "Yeah I think so," She said turning toward the front door of the store.

"There are still a few more stores to search through," Tyreese said, "And I'd like to do that before it gets dark."

"Sure," She said as she took one last glance at the store before they made their way out.

XXXXXXX

Paula pulled up her car up to the intersection and gave a tired sigh. She was extremely exhausted and wished that she could go back to camp to sleep. Both Michelle and Dwight felt the same way, but knew that there was still far too much work to do. Even then, it wasn't like either of them can order from Dunkin or Starbucks now, so they had to deal with it.

Before the end of the world, she was a major coffee addict. She started drinking it in middle school and never looked back. She was a bitch when she didn't have her coffee, which could be a big reason why she was a bitch now. She didn't think she was that bad, but there were very few people that could tolerate her when she was like that. Those people were ones that she feared and she knew that they wouldn't hesitate to kill her if she disrespected them. So she acted far different in front of them. To put it simply, she kissed their asses two or three times over.

There were lots of things she missed, but coffee was one of the things she missed the most. To her, waking to have a smoke and a coffee was the most relaxing thing ever. She would sit either on the front or back porch when the weather was nice enjoying her smoke, coffee, and the world around her. Even with her extreme personality, she did know how to enjoy the little things.

Dwight on the other hand, she didn't know too much about. She didn't like him, but knew that he was good to have on her side. He was weird and awkward and those were things that really irked her. He liked to talk a lot and most of the things weren't too intelligent, which didn't help his already low IQ. For some reason though, he was very perceptive and knew how to get things done, which boggled her mind.

Michelle was someone that she understood all too well. Before the zombies she was a great and loving mother, who was there for her friends and family. She could always be looked for to help anyone. Maybe not the religious type, but was Church friendly and went to their events, because she felt it was a good thing to do.

But with the end of the world, everything changed for her. She lost far too many people that she cared about and soon closed herself off from it. She went into survival mode and before she knew it, became desensitized by it all. She grew cold and only cared about living another day. If she had to kill a good friend to survive, she would do it without hesitation. You didn't want to be on her bad side.

She stepped out of the car and glanced at Michelle who promptly spat on the ground. She lit a cigarette and then turned toward Dwight who scanned the streets before him. He eyed a few men on the ground and reached for his gun. Both Paula and Michelle saw them seconds later and reached for their guns as well.

Paula cautiously approached them and cursed as she inspected their wounds and all the blood. There were two walkers feasting away, far too busy with their meal, to notice them approaching. She aimed her gun at them and shot them both in the head killing them.

"Well," Dwight began with a smirk on his face, "Looks like the meeting went well."

Paula looked at him. "You know what that means?" She asked him.

"Yeah," Dwight said looking at four walkers behind her slowly approaching from the end of the street. "Means Neegan will be pissed."

Michelle chuckled as she ashed her cigarette. "Not only that dumbass," She said shaking her head. "Honey, that means you will be the one just like it always has been with camps. To study the Governor's camp."

Paula looked at Michelle and nodded in agreement. "Wash, rinse, and repeat," She said to Dwight.

Dwight chuckled at her comment and then approached the corpses on the ground. "Those assholes took everything from them," He said disgusted and annoyed.

Paula saw a few more walkers exit stores near them and begin approaching slowly. "Wouldn't you do the same?" She asked him rhetorically as she turned away and returned to the car.

Michelle flicked her cigarette away and returned to the car, with Dwight standing there alone for another moment. "I would," He simply said before he returned to the car as well.

XXXXXXX

As the Governor drove back to the camp, he was still reeling about what happened. From the moment he saw those men, he knew they were bad news. There were many people who felt the same way about him, so he knew what signs to look for. Plus, it wasn't hard to distinguish between those that were good and those that were evil these days. Just one look in their eyes and one could tell.

His father taught him that after he was being teased in elementary school. He told him that if you really want to be able to see what type of person they are, look them in the eyes. If they were tough, they'd be able to match your look. But if they were weak, they'd look away, unable to continue. His father ended the talk by telling him that it wasn't who started the fight that mattered, it was who ended it and that he should never be the one on the losing side.

He took those words to heart from that moment on. His father died when he was in college after having hip surgery. The doctors told him that a blood clot developed and traveled toward the lungs. An embolism they called it. He felt that it was a poor way to go, but used his death as a stepping stone to rise to the top in life. It definitely helped when the new world rose and he eventually became the Governor of the camp.

He glanced at Martinez who had his seat leaned back as far as it could go. His eyes were closed, but he wasn't really asleep. Just resting his eyes. A simple recharge. After spending most of the night on watch and then getting around four hours of sleep, followed by going out for supplies was draining enough. But then being ambushed by whoever those were, didn't help the matter. To put it simple, the both of them were being tired. He knew that the moment he returned, he'd try to catch some sleep. That is if he were able to.

His thoughts drifted toward Rick and the prison. He was almost tempted to drive there right now and spy on him. Confronting him would lead to a confrontation that he didn't want to occur. It was far too early for that. Not to mention, with him and only Martinez, even though the both of them were pretty experienced with fighting, the both of them were grossly outnumbered. There would be a good chance that they'd be killed or taken hostage. Although he didn't think Rick would want that.

From the corner of his eye, he saw two walkers on the side of the road eating from a large deer. The deer was still alive, crying loudly in pain and still twitching, as the walkers were pulling out its organs from within its belly and eating them. There was a large puddle of blood by the deer, slowly spreading with each passing second. Neither of the walkers noticed him drive by, for they were far too busy eating.

"Shit," Martinez said looking at the deer.

The Governor glanced at him and saw him glance behind him, continuing to look at the deer. "Yep," He responded to him.

Martinez got comfortable in his seat again and asked, "What's our ETA?"

"With or without traffic?" The Governor joked.

Martinez looked at him and chuckled. "7-11 pit stop?" He asked. "I could use a big ass Slurpee."

The Governor laughed. "We should be there within an hour." He told him.

Martinez shifted in his spot and closed his eyes as he stifled a small yawn. "Good," He said, "Wake me when we get there."

"Sure," The Governor responded, eyeing him for a moment before looking back at the road. He thought about how much he missed Slurpees and wished that he could have one. Aside from the taste, it would help with the heat.

XXXXXXX

When Glenn woke up, it was completely dark. He wasn't so sure what time it was, but if he had to guess, it must have been around midnight. His head hurt like crazy and he was feeling pretty nauseous. He was really thirsty and his throat was parched. The stitches on his head itched and he resisted the urge to scratch it.

Maggie was curled up beside him, holding on to his arm tightly. She was fast asleep with a small smile on her face. She looked like a beautiful angel and he had to resist the urge to kiss her, so he wouldn't wake her. With the smile on her face that she had, he wondered what she was dreaming about.

He yawned and closed his eyes feeling tired. He thought about the attack earlier and wondered who those men were. They were dangerous and most likely came from an even more dangerous group. There were so many questions, that he didn't really know where to start. He had a feeling that he would be seeing them again. He slowly drifted off to sleep, ignoring Judith's soft crying from a few cells over.

Rick groaned and was about to get out of bed, when he heard Carl talking to his sister. He looked at his son, who took her out of the crib and in the process motioned toward his father that he had it under control. With a small smile of relief, he settled back in bed and began to drift back to a restless sleep.

Carl carried her away from the rooms and sat on the stairs. He kissed her forehead tenderly and began to slowly rock her, trying to get her back to sleep. But she was too restless and continued to stare at him blankly, not sure if she should cry or not. She yawned and then whimpered, shaking her hands in the process.

"Come on sis," Carl said gently. "You really want to go back to sleep." He didn't notice Beth approaching, who also heard Judith crying. "Uncle Carl really needs his sleep."

Beth chuckled catching his attention. "If you walk around," She said softly, "She will fall asleep faster."

He looked at her and stood up. "I was just about to do that," He said.

He stood up and began to slowly pace around in a circle, rocking her gently in his arms. Beth watched him and soon began to sing a song that she had heard at a friend's luncheon a few years back. She had heard it once and it stuck to her on many levels. She had yet to sing it and decided that this was a perfect time to do so.

The little bird is calling,  
It wishes to return.  
The little bird is wounded,  
It cannot fly but yearn.  
It's captured by the vultures,  
Crying bitterly,  
Oh, to see my nest again,  
Oh, to be redeemed.

The little bird of silver,  
So delicate and rare,  
Still chirps amongst the vultures,  
Outshining all that's there.  
How long, how long it suffers,  
How long will it be,  
When will come the eagle,  
And set the little bird free.

When she finished, she looked at Carl and blushed. She found him watching her with an interested and enamored look on his face. Judith was fast asleep. "That was amazing," Carl said almost shyly, not sure what words to tell her.

"Thanks," Beth said smiling at him.

Both of them continued to look at each other for a minute or two, before Carl looked away. "I should put her back," He simply said.

Beth looked at Judith sleeping peacefully in his arms. There was a small amount of drool, dribbling down her chin. "Yeah," She said suddenly feeling a bit awkward. "And I should get back to sleep."

They looked at each other for another minute. "Thanks for the help," He said breaking their eye contact.

"You're welcome," She said with a blushing smile.

With that Carl turned and walked back up the stairs, to put Judith back to bed. Beth stood in her spot, watching him leave. When he was gone, she returned to her room with a small smile still on her face.

XXXXXXX

Dwight was hiding behind a large tree and looking through his night vision binoculars. He carefully scanned through the camp searching for the Governor. He didn't see him, but saw a man and woman he didn't recognize pacing through around the camp aimlessly keeping watch. They looked out of place and not really right for the job.

He heard the snap of a tree branch and searched a bit in the woods, to see a man stumbling through clutching his stomach. It was hard to see while using night vision, but it looked like he had been stabbed. The man slowly approached the camp, struggling with each step. Every now and then, he'd pause by a tree, bracing him against it as to keep him standing upright

The two people keeping watch first heard him, then saw him. They could tell immediately that he wasn't a walker, but more than that, they didn't know. One told the man to wait, while keeping a weapon drawn at him, while she ran to get the Governor.

Dwight watched the whole scenario with a smirk on his face. "Now this should be interesting," He said amused.

The Governor approached the man, who looked as if he were to collapse at any second. A major part of him told him to send the guy away, not wanting anything to do with him. He didn't know this man and what dangers he could bring. He could have been bitter, which would ruin everything. He aimed a gun at the man, ignoring the looks from those who had woken from the commotion and were approaching to see what was happening.

"Are you bitten?" The Governor asked roughly.

The man swallowed and looked at him. "No." He shook his head weakly.

"What happened?" He asked him.

The man was about to respond, when he moaned and his eyes rolled to the back of his head. He collapsed to the ground, blood leaking out from his stomach wound.

"We have to treat him," Lilly said the Governor who was ready to throw him in the ditch of walkers.

The Governor was about to protest, but looked at Martinez who nodded agreeing with Lilly. "Fine," He said putting away his gun. "But he must be kept under 24-hour surveillance." He stepped past Martinez and looked him dead in the eyes. "This is on you," He said in a hushed voice that only he could hear.


	5. Tears of the Sun

TWD: Crimson Tears

Chapter 5: Tears of the Sun

For the remainder of the night, the Governor felt restless. Even more than usual. He would sleep for an hour or so at most and then wake up. All he was thinking about was this man and who he was. He hated the idea of him and felt that there was something very wrong about the situation. It could have been stemmed from his dealings with Rick, but his gut was sending warning signs and he hated ignoring the feeling.

When morning stuck, he stepped out of his trailer and stifled a yawn as the already hot sun beat down its wrath. It must have been nearly eighty degrees or at least it felt like it. He enjoyed the sun, but hated the heat almost as much as he hated the cold. There was nothing worse, then feeling all hot, sweaty, and smelly. It wasn't like there were available showers. Everything that they had here, was needed to be used sparingly.

It made him really miss his other camp. There were so many things he had there, that he took for granted. From the available showers to the overwhelming supplies. To the security and the people that were there. He even missed Andrea a bit. She was very attractive and even better in bed. But that was pretty much all he missed about her.

He missed his daughter the most. When she was bitten and then eventually turned, he went crazy. Having her around, even as a walker, was a small form of consolation. Then when Michonne took her away from him, he totally lost it. He saw red and vowed to kill her. He almost did, but she stabbed him in the eyed and managed to slip away. After Rick, he wanted to kill her next.

He yawned again as he approached the trailer where the man was staying in, dreading the meeting. He found Martinez standing in the front keeping guard. He had a bottle of water in one hand and a bag of Jalapeno Kettle Chips in the other. He nodded at him as he approached, his mouth too full of chips to say anything.

The Governor wished him a good morning and then entered the trailer to see the man resting in the bed by the right side of the room. It was dimly lit, with only a little bit of light coming from the partially open window. Their camp nurse stood over the man checking his bandage again. She turned toward him and gave him a courteous smile.

He nodded and approached the man, who was watching them half asleep. "How is he feeling?" He asked eyeing him apprehensively.

"In pain," Wendy said as she worked on him. "And lucky to be alive."

The Governor watched as she finished with him and then left the trailer. Do to his distrust in the man, he stood over him as menacingly as possible. He cleared his throat loudly, before he began. "Who are you?"

The man looked at him and licked his dry lips. "Bill," He stammered, trying to bear with all the pain. His abdomen felt like it was on fire.

"Bill," The Governor asked, narrowing his eyes at him. Even though he knew that he wasn't bitten, he still didn't like the idea of having someone he didn't know with the camp. "What happened?"

Bill closed his eyes and thought back to the stabbing. He hurt so much, that he couldn't really think straight. "I was running from a group of walkers," He said wiping the sweat off his brow. It kept getting in his eyes, stinging them. "And met this guy, who promptly stabbed me." He tried to recall what he looked like, but he couldn't. "He stole everything from me." He shook his head in dismay.

The Governor continued to look at him with distrust. "And you never saw the man before?" He asked.

Bill shook his head. "No," He said weakly.

The Governor didn't like his answer. He scratched his neck and looked at the bandage on his stomach. "Where are you from?" He asked roughly. "A group?" He didn't want to think about a group living on his doorstep.

Bill nodded. "Yeah," He said, "But we are far from here. I was searching for supplies and got lost." He grimaced as sweat dripped into his eyes, temporarily blinding him. "I then found the group of walkers and the rest you know."

The Governor really didn't like anything he was saying and even more so, he didn't like him. It seemed pretty random that he found their group. He held a steady gaze for a few moments, before he turned and left the trailer. He glanced at Martine who had finished the chips and was drinking the last of his water. "From your look," He said, "I could tell you didn't like him one bit."

The Governor sighed. "You know me too well," He said with a bitter chuckle. "Hell, I need a drink." With that he turned and returned to his trailer, not caring that it was so early in the morning.

* * *

Ignoring the looks from the two others, he made his way toward the large tree, hiding behind it as he unzipped his pants. With a sigh of pleasure, he began to pee. He closed his eyes and rested his head against the tree. He had been holding it for a while now and it felt good to release.

He heard a groan and opened his eyes abruptly. He saw a walker step out from behind a large tee and approach him. "Shit on a stick," He groaned mid stream.

The walker continued to make its way toward him as he peed. He couldn't stop, so he carefully shoved the walker aside. The walker fell and landed on the ground roughly. It stood up immediately and continued to approach him, hungry for his flesh. He pushed it again, harder, which led him to pee on his foot.

"Oh come on," He groaned, looking at his boot.

He heard another groan as a second walker stepped out of hiding and approached. As he was finishing peeing he reached for his knife, knowing that he may have to kill them now, just as he heard two gun shots. Both of the walkers fell in a bloody heap. He eyed the two walkers annoyed that it wasn't even safe to take a piss anymore.

"Um Abe," Rosita said as she approached with a gun in her hand. She motioned at his open zipper.  
Abraham looked down and laughed. "Prick wanted some action too," He joked as he pushed it back inside and zippered shut his pants.

Rosita smiled stepped up to him. "Well I have a certain idea for both pricks," She kissed him and then turned away from him.

Abraham glanced at her ass wanting to slap it as she walked back toward Eugene, who was waiting for them, but he decided against it. He followed her back to him with a smile on his face, thinking about what she was talking about.

Eugene stood by the corner of the road waiting for them anxiously. "We shouldn't stay here for too long," He said said stating the obvious. "There is an increase of walkers in the area and we need to find a working vehicle soon."

"That much is obvious Mr. Einstein," Abraham said sarcastically. Rosita looked at him, but didn't say anything.

Eugene saw a rock by the road and kicked it. It landed by the side of the road they were on. "I don't mind walking." He touched his stomach. "I could definitely use the exercise, but as I previously just said, there is an increase of walkers in the area and it is much safer in a vehicle."

Abraham and Rosita glanced at each other. "I tend to agree with him," She said.

Abraham looked back at the empty road before him. "Well I don't mind walking either," He said, "But I would rather shit bricks than walk all the way to Washington."

Eugene gave him a dumbfounded look. "It is inconceivable to think that we won't be finding a working car along the way," He told him. "In fact it is highly impossible."

Abraham shook his head. "Do you ever get tired being a smart ass?" He asked him.

Eugene looked at him and then Rosita, who was watching the both of them amused. "No I don't," He said with a smile on his face. He saw a car by the side of the road, hidden by a row of trees and overgrown brush. He quickened his pace toward it, feeling like a million bucks.

"Do you think if I punch him that it will affect us getting to Washington?" Abraham asked quietly watching him make his way toward the car, like a kid running to a toy store.

Rosita looked at him and shrugged. "I don't know," She said, "But it may be worth it regardless of what happens."

Eugene reached the car and brushed the dirt and dust off the driver window. He leaned close to look inside and jumped when a walker tried to bite the window as if it could eat through it. It stained it with blood and black ooze. He was about to step away from it, when he noticed something in the back that scared him more than anything else he had ever seen before. He stepped away from the car looking pale, as if he had just seen a ghost.

When Abraham and Rosita approached, they asked what was wrong, but Eugene couldn't speak. He just pointed at the car with a trembling finger. Abraham turned and saw a walker in the front seat. He opened that door and the walker swiped at him, but was out of reach. It was still belted in. Abraham used his knife to kill the walker, as to not make a mess of things in the car.

"It's just a walker man," Rosita said to him. SHe gave him a disapproving look. "One of these days you will need to kill one."

Abraham was about to remove the walker, when he noticed what made Eugene feel so unsettled. In the back seat of the car, was a carseat with a baby strapped inside. She couldn't have been more than two years old and from the looks of it, had been dead for some time. There were no bite marks on her body that he could see, but she was completely cyanotic.

"What is it?" Rosita asked looking at his sudden emotional reaction.

Abraham looked at her, but didn't answer. He stepped away allowing her to look inside instead. She stepped past him and peered in the car, feeling her heart flip. She saw exactly what made both of them so emotional. She held back the urge to cry as she turned away from the car teary eyed, wishing that she had never saw what was inside to begin with.

"We need this car," Abraham grumbled. He glanced at Eugene and then Rosita.

He knew that as tough as Rosita was, she wouldn't have the heart to do what must be done. There was no way that Eugene could do it. He couldn't even kill a walker if his life depended on it. He had a hard enough time carry a weapon. So he was the only person that could do it. As much as he didn't want to, he knew that he had to.

He took a deep breath and the exhaled slowly to gain composure. Without a second glance, he pulled the walker out of the car and took it to the side of the road where he promptly left it. He made his way to the backdoor and the moment he opened the door, the baby in the car seat, opened her eyes. She turned her head toward him, growling hungrily.

Abraham felt his knees grow weak and he had to hold on to the door to prevent himself from falling. The baby reached toward him, trying to pull herself out from the straps. He reached for his knife. "Forgive me," He said as he raised the knife in a trembling hand, preparing to stab her. "Please forgive me."

* * *

Rick looked over the inventory that Tyreese and Sasha had brought from their supply run. The both of them were now outside in the watchtower. Herschel was by his side watching him and Daryl was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest. He was watching as well. Maggie was with Glenn, while Beth and Carl were playing with Judith outside.

"There is so much alcohol," Rick shook his head.

There were ten bottle of wine, four bottles of scotch, three bottles of whiskey, six bottles of vodka, and three bottles of bourbon. That was just the alcohol. There were other items, ranging from random dried foods to a few bottles of soda. There was also a small box halfway filled with an assortment of medical supplies.

"We could use some of it for antiseptic," Herschel suggested.

Daryl eyed a bottle of Peach Schnapps on the shelf. He approached and inspected the bottle with a comical look on his face. "We can save this shit for that then," He suggested. "I'll be damned if I get caught drinking that girly crap."

Rick looked at him. "I don't really mind that stuff," He said with a small shrug.

Daryl gave a laugh. "As I said." He shook his head. "Girl drink."

Herschel approached them. "All I have to say," He said with a small smile. "Is that despite Glenn's injury, this was a pretty good supply run. We have more medication, food, and drinks." He glanced at all the booze. "And of course alcohol."

Rick agreed with him. "We could use more weapons," He said.

"True," Daryl agreed.

Herschel looked at Rick and then Daryl. "I hate to bring this up," He asked. "But how much is too much?"

Rick and Daryl looked at each other. Both knew what the other was thinking and what the answer would be. "Sadly there are more dangerous things out there besides walkers, but I don't need to tell you that." Rick told him with an intense look in his face.

Herschel seemed to ponder the thought for a moment or two. "No you don't," He said with an understanding look. "We have all been through so much together, it makes sense." He sighed. "Even if I don't like it."

Rick took a step toward him. "None of us like it," He told him, "But it is a necessity."

Daryl reached for a bottle of whiskey and opened it. He drank a shots worth from it and offered it to Rick, who took it. He drank from it and then handed it to Herschel, who promptly declined. As much as he wanted it, he couldn't start drinking again. Not after how many problems he had with it in the past.

"Well I hope we don't have to use them," Herschel respond to them.

* * *

Carol cautiously stepped into the house keeping an eye out for any walkers or anyone else for the matter. It had been days since she met a non infected and that person was living alone with barely enough to survive. She was so scared of her that she chased her away. The last time she saw a walker, was moments before strolling through the street aimlessly. So far she didn't see anything in the house worth taking.

She searched through the dimly lit living room, that looked partially ransacked. Couches and chairs in the far right had been turned over, its cushions were thrown around aimlessly. Boxes were scattered throughout the room, most open and half empty. Anything of value had been removed. All that remained was worthless junk.

She searched through the living room, but found nothing useful. At least nothing that she was looking for. She left the room and made her way to the kitchen, but that was stripped clean. Anything that was left was moldy and stank terribly. It didn't surprise her. For those that were still alive, she knew that the constant search for supplies would never end.

She left the kitchen and searched through the basement, bathrooms, bedrooms, attic, and closets, but found nothing else worth taking. She did find a Home Improvement magazine and sat on the edge of the stairs. She began to flip through it, reading the articles and looking through the pictures.

There was one picture of a happy looking family, sitting outside BBQing. The father was manning the grill with a spatula in one hand and a beer in the other. The mother was sitting at the table with a glass of wine in her hand. Their two kids were setting the table. Everything about the picture looked too happy. Too fake.

Her family BBQs were never like that. Not even close. Ed would man the grill, but that was it. She had to prepare everything else and clean up as well. She had to set the table and clean it up too. She had to make sure that everything was perfect, from the food to the beer. Ed had to have his beer and if he didn't, he got physical. She had forgotten once and she ended in the hospital. After that, she never forgot.

Carl's thoughts were interrupted when she heard someone enter the house. She hardly had enough time to move, when a man approached her with his hands held up high. She had her gun out, pointed at him menacingly. He took a few steps away from her and told her that he wasn't going to hurt her.

"Your weapons," She threatened motioning toward them with her gun. "On the floor."

The man slowly reached for his semi automatic and handgun. He tossed them aside and then removed his red machete. He tossed that aside and then as for good measure, he removed his backpack. He set it on the floor beside his other stuff as well. He stepped away from it, to show that he wasn't going to do anything.

"I am not going to hurt you," He said gently, yet assertively.

Carol didn't trust him one bit. "Who are you and what do you want?" She asked roughly. She continued to point her weapon at him.

He gave her a kind look. "The name is Gareth," He said, "And it's not what I want that is important, but what you want."


	6. Fine Dine, Blood Wine

TWD: Crimson Tears

Chapter 6: Fine Dine Blood Wine

Carol narrowed her eyes at him distrustfully. She wasn't sure what her take was in this man. He had a kind and relaxed demeanor to him to go along with coolness in his eyes. He had a similar look to him that Ed had when he was in a good mood, which underlined his real mood. One that she had to really watch out for.

"I know that you distrust me," Gareth said slowly as to gain her trust. "And you have every right to. I barged into this place carrying like Rambo. It only makes sense that you don't trust me one bit." He paused for a moment, trying to ignore the gun still in his face. "But I can assure you, that I mean no harm whatsoever."

Carol still didn't trust him. She had heard this before many times, from many different people. Maybe a while back, she would've trusted him right away, but with recent events from all the camps she had been in until she was asked to leave the prison, made her think otherwise. She knew that she had to look out for herself and herself only.

She slowly lowered the gun, but didn't put it away. "What do you want?" She asked.

Gareth was glad that she lowered her gun. He could tell that she was good with it and not afraid to defend herself if she needed to. That was something that he really admired from people. Their uncanny ability to adjust and adapt. That is if the desire was there of course. There were far too many who cracked under the pressure.

He continued to smile at her. "I already told you," He said innocently. "It is not what I want, but what you are looking for."

Carol cocked her head slightly in confusion. "I find that hard to believe," She said wanting to point the gun at him again. She held back though knowing that she'd still be able to shoot him before he would be able to reach for any of his weapons.

Gareth ran a hand through his hair and then scratched his neck. "What must I do or say that will make you believe me?" He asked.

Carol chuckled and shook her head. "Nothing," She said cooly.

Gareth frowned. "If you say so," He said, "But from the looks of it, you need help. Very little to no supplies and all alone." He glanced at her backpack. "Like I said, you need help."

Carol felt her heart do a mini flip. She tightened her grip on the gun, but didn't raise it. "Have you been following me?" She asked tensely.

Gareth shook his head. "No," He said, "But just like you, I am searching for supplies and more." He reached into his pocket and removed a picture carefully and slowly. "Here. Look at this." He tossed the picture on the floor in front of her. "This is the community I am from. It's called Terminus. We are a small group just trying to survive. But we are always looking for able body people."

Carol carefully bent down to retrieve the picture, not losing eye contact from him. "I have seen signs for that place," She told him. "By the railroad. It says that it's a safe haven there." She looked at the photo and then handed it back to him.

Gareth smiled at her. "It is," He simply responded.

Carol shook her head and chuckled softly. "I find that hard to believe." She thought of the prison and how much she missed it, even though Rick asked her not to come back. She missed Daryl the most of all. If she were able to return, she definitely would without a second thought.

"I have an idea," Gareth suggested. "How about you come to Terminus, look around, and if you like what you see then you are more than welcome to stay."

Carol narrowed her eyes with distrust. "And if I don't?" She asked.

Gareth smiled politely. "Then I will pack a small doggy bag for you and send you on your way," He said.

Carol drew a breath and exhaled slowly. She really didn't want to go, but she was nearly out of food and completely out of water. She needed supplies and highly doubted that she would be finding a jack pots worth of supplies any time soon. As she had seen the past few days so far, anything that she did find, was worthless or spoiled. Yet, as much as her hunger and thirst was trying to convince her, she couldn't go to this man's camp. She knew nothing about him or the camp.

"I'm okay," She said with a fake genuity.

"Are you sure?" He asked knowing that she was lying.

Carol nodded. "Yeah," She simply said.

Gareth shrugged. "If you say so," He simply said and then pointed toward his weapons. "May I take them before I leave?" He saw her nod and steady her gun. "Thanks," He said as he carefully took back his weapons. "I have to go," He said motioning with his head toward the front door. "But if you do decide that you don't want to be on your own anymore, then you are more then welcome to come to Terminus." He opened the front door. "Just follow the signs."

Carol didn't respond to him as she watched him leave the house. She exhaled loudly, seemingly to suddenly be able to relax and then stood up. She knew that she had to leave this place now. There was no resting. Gareth may or not be alone. Regardless, she felt as if he posed a threat. His proposal for her to join seemed too genuine. Too fake. He was definitely hiding something and she wouldn't wait around to find out. She quickly left the house making as little sound as possible, using the back door as an exit.

* * *

Glenn slid out of bed, trying his best to ignore his pounding headache. He was feeling nauseous, dizzy, and weak. His vision was still slightly blurry, but it was from his headache. Maggie had left a few minutes before to get some food and water for him. He was sick of being in bed and he needed to get out to stretch his legs, even though she told him that she'd be right back.

He took a deep breath and left his room. He walked downstairs using the bannister as support and reached the bottom just as Maggie approached carrying a some food and water. She saw him and immediately grew concerned.

"Glenn," She said to him. "You shouldn't be out of bed."

He gave her a reassuring smile. "I'm fine," He said.

She gave him a quick look over, not believing him. "Glenn," She asked. "Are you sure?" When he was recently really sick, he constantly told her that he was feeling better than he really was, but she knew it was just for show.

He nodded. "Yeah," He said, "I just needed some fresh air. It felt suffocating in the room."

Maggie knew what he was talking about and felt the same. "Makes sense," She said walking with him outside.

"No harm in a small walk," Glenn told her. "It's not like I am going out of prison grounds any time soon." He smiled at her. "Plus I have you by my side."

She looked at him and gave him a quick kiss on the cheek. "I love you," She said with sudden emotion.

He smiled at her. "I love you too." He took her arm and walked with her outside.

He saw Carl and Beth playing with Judith on a quilt outside. She was sitting up and shaking a rattle type toy loudly. Carl and Beth were reading comics and discussing them as well. Judith kept handing the toy to him, trying to get his attention and he'd return to her right away.

Glenn and Maggie made their way around the outside of the prison complex and stopped by a shady area to rest up. They say beneath the tree and Maggie snuggled against him, resting her head on his shoulder. Despite the heat and the lack of a good breeze, it felt great to be outside. He didn't want to return to his room, even though he knew he would soon.

"Do you think that there will ever be a time where we will feel completely safe?" Maggie asked thinking about the mystery men who attacked him on the supply run.

Glenn looked at her. "You'd think so," He said to her. "But it sadly doesn't work that way."

Maggie looked at Michonne, Sasha, and Tyreese who were by the outer fence killing the few walkers that were pushing against the fence trying to break through. Michonne had her katana in her grasp and with an intense look, she stabbed it through the base of the skull. The walker went limp and then fell to the ground when she pulled out the sword.

"Some supply run," Michonne said to Sasha as she kill a walker.

Sasha looked at her with a brief smile. "Well with all the shit we see everyday," She said, "It's nice to know we have our medicine."

Michonne shook her head and chuckled at her comment. "Can't argue with that logic," She said.

"I'm just glad that Rick allowed us to go on a supply run," Sasha said eyeing another walker in front of Michonne. "I was so certain that he'd say no."

The walker leaned against the fence, trying to push through with all its might. It pushed its hands through the hole with its already bloody skin, peeling off. It pressed its face against the fence hard enough that its skin cut in many places. Blood and black ooze dripped out of its mouth and wounds, down the fence.

Michonne looked at the walker in front of her. Part of its arm was through the hole in the steel fence, its skin peeling off as it reached out to her. Blood dripped from the arm, down the fence on to the floor. Its other arm was partly through, its skin peeling off its small wrist.

With a simple thrust, Michonne stabbed it through the head and then pulled out her sword. The walker collapsed against the fence, with its arm still stuck in the fence. She stared at it blankly for a moment, before she cut it off and then tossed the arm over the fence. It landed beside the walker with a gruesome splat.

"I wasn't always on Rick's good side," She said thinking about when they had first met. "It took some time, but soon I gained his trust."

Tyreese looked at Michonne. "We are just thankful that everything that has happened so far," He said to her, "That Rick allowed is to stay with no strings attached."

Michonne killed another walker. "As much as we all have been through so far, especially Rick." She didn't know much about his past, but could easily tell that he had been through some serious stuff. Just take one look at him and one could tell. "He has a heart of gold and sees the best out of everyone."

"That is until someone gets on his bad side," Sasha said thinking of some of the crazy antics she saw out of him, from her small amount of time here in the prison.

Michonne looked at her. "That's true," She said in agreement.

* * *

Gareth was humming Metallica's popular song, One, as he returned to Terminus. He was in a good mood, despite not finding the supplies he was searching for and he wasn't so sure why. Perhaps it was his meeting with Carol. Perhaps not. He could tell how dangerous she was, especially with her gun, and it intrigued him.

He scarcely entered the place when he heard that Mary wanted to talk to him about the supply run. He made his way to the bench area, where he found her cleaning the grill for later, with a tired and anxious look on her face.

"So," She said looking up from her work. "How many this time?"

Gareth sat on top of the bench table. "None," He said clasping his hands together on his knee. "The streets are barren these days."

She looked at him disapprovingly. "We need more," She said tensely.

Gareth nodded in agreement. "I know that," He said, "But it's not like they come in an assembly line. Hell most of them are dead and you know we can't have that around here."

She frowned. "Yeah," She said, "Tainted meat."

Gareth chuckled. "Too bad we don't have any marshmallows," He said, "Or Frank's hot sauce."

Mary gave him a strange look. "I was never much into that stuff," She said, "I guess I was born without a sweet tooth." She chuckled. "Always was a carnivore."

Gareth ran a hand through his hair. "I was born with a sweet tooth," He said thinking back to his childhood. "My mom couldn't take candy away from me without me throwing a fit. Hell, I don't know how I didn't lose all my teeth."

Mary finished cleaning the grill and then used the already somewhat dirty rag to wipe her hands. "You know what that means?" She asked rhetorically. "You need to go out there again to find more recruits."

Gareth nodded. "That I know," He said thinking of Carol. He wished that she had chosen to come with him. "I did meet someone, but she chose not to join."

Mary licked her lips and nodded. "Well then," She said, "You need to tail her and try to bring her back."

Gareth gave her a sudden look. "That may be a little hard now," He said to her. "I have no idea where she went."

She approached him and gave him an understanding look. "I know," She said reaching out to give him a trusting pat on the shoulder. "But I have full faith in you." She leaned close giving him an assertive look. "Because we also need to eat."

* * *

Dwight made his way into the complex and without saying anything to anyone, went immediately to his room. He set his machete and gun on his small desk. He turned to his bed and looked at the pictures of beaten victims by his boss. All of them were bloody and beaten beyond recognition.

He yawned loudly as he plopped on to his bed. He removed his boots and tossed them aside aimlessly by his bed. They smelled pretty bad, but he didn't care. He was far too tired. He laid on the bed and closed his eyes feeling himself instantly drift off to sleep, with the images of the pictures on his wall fresh in his mind.

In another part of the complex, Paula, Michelle, and a few others were discussing the plans Neegan had for all of them. They were standing over a large table that had a map taped on to it.

"Shouldn't Dwight be here?" Michelle asked as she lit her cigarette. She took a drag and then gave a deep throat cough.

Paula looked at her. "He should be," She said with a small shrug. "But we both know it's better that he isn't." She didn't want him constantly interrupting her, even though he was part of the team.

Michelle laughed loudly, which led her to cough again. "That's true," She said spitting on the floor. "He's an asshole when he's tired."

"Aren't we all," Paula said rhetorically.

Paula cleared her throat and looked at the map. Using a chewed up pen, darkened the circle where their complex was located. "Okay," She began as she darkened the circles around other camps. "This is where the Governor is." She glanced at Michelle who was watching her intently. "This is the Hilltop, but we already know that." They'd have to go there soon, to make sure that they got their part of the supplies.

"I hate that place," One of the others said a bit too loudly.

Paula ignored him and continued. "We don't know for sure, but here is Alexandria." She marked a place near the Hilltop. "We haven't been inside yet, but just know that there is a massive wall surrounding it. "Now same thing, but here is Terminus."

"I have seen signs for it," Michelle stated.

"Yeah," Paula agreed. "I plan on going there soon and having Dwight check out the place. Hopefully there is something more useful. We definitely need to get more supplies."

Michelle pointed to a southern part of the map, a small ways away from the Governor's camp. "Do you think that there is anything there?" She asked.

Paula shrugged. "There has to be," She said, "I have heard through the grapevine that there is a prison there, which could hold a large amount of supplies." She looked at Michelle. "But that is what I have heard. Chances are, that it is overrun with walkers and a waste of resources to scavenge it."

"Makes sense," Michelle agreed.

"But I will talk it over with Negan," She said eyeing everyone in the room. They were watching her intently. "I don't see him saying no to sending a team out there to check it out, which chances are, will be us."

"Yeah," Michelle said thinking about how they did all the dirty work, which she didn't mind. It was better than sitting around doing nothing. She took a long drag on her cigarette. "The more people we get on our side, the better." She thought about people rising against Negan's style of rule and knew that it would happen sooner than later. She wondered what camp that would be

"I agree," Paula said as if able to read her thoughts. "But don't worry, we have plenty on our side." She paused for a moment. "Yet if there is a resistance of some sort and they manage to finish off us, then they need to deal with Negan and his pal." She thought of Lucille and shuddered. "But I highly doubt that will happen."


	7. Red Sea, Dead Sea

TWD: Crimson Tears

Chapter 7: Red Sea, Dead Sea

Rick had a bottle of whiskey in his hand as he approached Daryl, Herschel, and Michonne at the table. They had just finished eating dinner and were relaxing for the rest of the night. Judith was asleep and Carl was in the room reading comic. After much discussion of what activity to do, they all agreed on playing the game 'Never Have I Ever', which was Daryl's idea.

"Merle and I used to play on our hunting trips," Daryl said watching Rick open the bottle. "Although it was pretty shitty to play with only one other person and I usually was the one getting hammered."

Michonne looked at him with an odd expression. "Then why'd you do it?" She asked.

Daryl looked at her. "There was no saying no to him," He replied. "Plus I really didn't mind. Soon I was able to outdrink him and then the game became really fun."

Rick sat down and handed plastic cups to Daryl and Michonne. He offered Herschel just to be nice, even though his knew that he wouldn't be drinking.

"Okay," Rick said pouring himself a shots worth. He handed the bottle to Michonne. "Daryl, you go first since it was you who suggested this game."

"Fine by me," Daryl said taking the bottle from Michonne and pouring himself a shots worth. He thought for a moment what to ask. "Never have I ever smoked weed."

Michonne looked at him. "Really?" She asked somewhat surprised that she'd ask that.

Daryl didn't respond to her, but watched as they all took a shot. "Okay," Rick said now that is was his turn. "Never have I ever had moonshine."

Daryl looked at him. "Damn," He grumbled as he was the only one to take a drink.

"Chances are you have a much higher tolerance than us," Rick said with a playful smile. "And I know that you have had moonshine before."

It was now Michonne's turn and she thought for only a moment. A small smile appeared on her face. "Never have I ever been in handcuffs," She said.

Daryl looked at her and shook his head. "Shit," He groaned, "You guys are really out to get me here." He drank some of his whiskey.

Rick and Herschel laughed, while Michonne cracked a smile. "Herschel, your turn," Rick said even though he wasn't drinking.

Herschel nodded and stroked his beard. "Never have I ever," He began, "Gone skydiving."

Rick, Michonne, and Daryl didn't raise their cups. "Heights scare me," Michonne said with a small shrug.

"I like to keep my feet rooted to the ground," Rick said.

Daryl chuckled. "Hell," He said shaking his head. "I couldn't afford to do that." He chuckled again. "I also find it strange why someone would spend that money to jump out of a plane."

Rick looked at him. "For the fun of it," He said to him.

Daryl scoffed. "Stupid," He grumbled. He kept silent for a moment, before continuing with the game. He wanted to get one that he he never did, but either Rick or Michonne did or both. "Never have I ever slept on the job."

Rick and Michonne was taken by surprise by his choice, but they both took the shot and then looked at him waiting for him to drink. "Hey," He said, "I took my work seriously."

Michonne laughed. "Did you even have a real job?" She asked.

Daryl looked at him dumbfounded. "I worked," He said trying to be a serious as possible. "Just not every day."

It was now Rick's turn. "Never have I ever been arrested," He said knowing the Daryl would for sure drink.

Daryl looked at him. "Damn it," He shook his head. He drained the rest of his whiskey.

Michonne slowly raised her cup, which caught surprised looks from everyone. "It was during college," She said with a blush.

Daryl shook his head and chuckled. "Now that is a story I want to hear," He said reaching for the whiskey to pour himself some more. He handed it to Michonne, who refilled hers.

Michonne shook her head. "Nope," She said adamantly. "A story that stays with me."

Herschel shifted in his chair. "We do have a lot of alcohol and I am just as curious as everyone else."

Michonne looked at him. "Nope," She said handing the bottle to Rick. "Stays with me to the end." She looked at Rick waiting for his turn. She knew that they'd press her for the story, but she wouldn't break. They would never find out what she did to get arrested.

* * *

Bill opened his eyes with a start as the image of a walker bit off his face. It took a him a few seconds to realize that it was just a dream, even if it felt real. His heart was pounding loudly, threatening to pop out of his chest and he was diaphoretic. His shirt clung to his skin and bandage.

He groaned and sat up slowly, grimacing in pain from his healing stab wound. The pain faded a few moments later. He grunted and lifted up his shirt to inspect his bandage. It was slightly blood stained and a bit damp from his sweat. He wondered how long it would hold.

He turned and walked out of the trailer and was immediately greeted by Martinez who was standing by the front door with a cigarette in his hand. "Where are you going pretty boy?" He asked Bill eyeing him suspiciously. He stepped in front of him, blocking his path.

Bill looked at him trying to ignore his look. "Nowhere," He simply said.

Martinez took a step toward him. "Doubt that," He said, "Because the only place you are going is right back in that trailer."

Bill looked at the door and then back at Martinez. "I'm hungry," He said, "And thirsty."

Martinez took another step toward him, just as the Governor approached. He cleared his throat, which brought looks from both Martinez and Bill. Martinez stepped aside and flicked his cigarette away. The Governor approached Bill, eyeing him up and down intensely, especially where he was stabbed.

"I see you are feeling better," The Governor said.

Bill glanced at Martinez briefly who was acting like a security guard. "I am," He said looking at the Governor. "No thanks to you guys."

The Governor and Martinez looked at each other, as if knowing what the other was thinking. "Now that you are feeling better," He asked him, "Do you remember anything else from last night?"

Bill shook his head. "No I don't," He said, "It's mostly a blur."

The Governor rested his hands on his waist and looked at the ground for a few moments, kicking a small pebble beneath the trailer. "That's too bad," He asked seriously. "How far is it to your camp?"

Bill gave him an odd look. "About a day's journey by foot." He told him. He scratched his neck, when he thought he felt a bug bite him. "Why do you ask?"

The Governor glanced at Martinez for a moment, before he took a step toward him. "Well since you are out of bed, it only makes sense to send you on your way," He said to him.

Bill touched his bandage. "Are you serious?" He asked fearing the worst on the potential trip back.

The Governor narrowed his eyes. "I am always serious," He said to him. "But here, we don't have any space and very limited supplies." He saw Bill glance at the trailer behind briefly. "And Wendy, who is taking care of you, well that is her trailer you are staying in."

Bill grew somber. "I guess there really is no way out of this," He said with a hefty sigh.

The Governor shook his head. "Nope," He said adamantly. "But to show that I have a good heart, I am going to send you with some food and water to make your journey a bit easier."

Bill could easily tell from his few conversations with this guy, that he was safer on his own out there, then here with him. "Well then," He said with another sigh, "I guess it's time to go, before it gets dark that is."

The Governor gave him a fake smile. "If you hurry, you should be able to get back to your camp before it gets dark," He said knowing that it was a big if. "I will be right back with your doggy bag."

The Governor quickly gathered a few pieces of food, water, and a broken broom that was fortified to be a weapon. He made his way back and handed the items to him. "Come," He said motioning for both Bill and Martinez to follow him. "We will show you the way."

Bill glanced at the broomstick in his hand and then followed them out of the camp, to the woods. It was almost as if his wound knew it, because it began to pulse painfully and itch. He kept his eyes on the both of them as well as the woods around him, making sure that there were no walkers.

"Thank you," He said politely, trying to hide his disappointment.

The Governor glanced at him and gave him another fake smile. "It's been my pleasure," He told him. He walked in silence until he reached the ditch full of walker corpses.

Bill peered into it and saw that there were two in there alive, that must have fallen in absentmindedly. "Damn," He said shaking his head. He looked at the Governor, who had a roll of duct tape in his hand. "What the hell is this?" He saw Martinez pointing his gun at him, with a stern look on his face. He did see hesitation in his eyes though.

The Governor tore off a piece of tape and with a harsh look in his eyes, he placed it over his face. "This camp here," He said seriously as he took the bag of supplies from him. "Is very special to me and I will do whatever it takes to keep it safe. At any costs." He grabbed his shoulder with one hand, squeezing it roughly and used his index finger to open the stab wound in his stomach. Bill grew wide eyed and muffled a scream.

With that he pushed him in the ditch, close to where the moving walkers were reaching out to them. Bill landed in between them and immediately squirmed to get away from them, but he wasn't fast enough. One of the walkers bit him in the back of the neck, taking a large chunk out. Blood pouredout of the wound as tendons stretched and then snapped. The other walker bit him in the eye and nose. Blood oozed out of the wound as well. Bill flailed wildly trying to escape, but the walkers were feasting on him and he soon went limp.

The Governor turned and walked away from the ditch, feeling satisfied. "Why'd you do that?" Martinez asked as they made their way back to camp. "You could have let him go."

"I could have," He replied, "And if I did, he could've returned later with his camp to take everything that we have here." He gave him a reassuring look. "I did it for everyone here."

Martinez wasn't sure what to take out from it. "Makes sense," He said not really believing it.

* * *

Carol walked along the side of the road deep in thought, all involving who she just met and everyone that she missed at the prison. As far as she knew, Rick was the only one who knew that she was asked not to return as opposed to her deciding to leave. If she returned now, maybe Rick wouldn't say anything.

She sighed and ran a hand through her hair that was mopped with sweat. She was soaked all over and feeling sticky. It was barely midday and the temperature was already in the high nineties. Her throat was parched and she was extremely hungry.

She took a seat by the side of the road and opened her backpack. She removed her water and groaned when she saw that she was completely empty. It suddenly made her throat feel even more like sandpaper. She replaced the bottle and wiped the sweat off of her brow again.

Her body ached from all the walking around, just trying to find supplies. Food and water were the essentials, but of course, there were none around. But, she would keep on looking, because her life depended on it.

She heard a growl and eyed a walker across the street stumbling toward her. With a sigh, she stood up and approached it with her machete in her hand. The walker reached out to her with its blood stained mouth wide open. She stabbed it in the head and the wiped the blood off on its pants.

She pushed the walker aside and then turned back to the road, when she saw a few walkers heading her way from where she was just resting. She groaned and thought for a moment about killing them, but decided against it. There were far too many and there were more approaching. She counted ten total at least. It seemed as if they could easily smell her.

With her machete still in her grasp, she turned and sped walk down the road away from the horde. More seemed to join from all sides, which made her quicken her pace. There were now over twenty of them total.

In front of her, about thirty feet or so, there were two cars in the middle of the road from what looked like an apparent accident. The passenger side of one of the cars was completely dented and the front of the other was smashed in. There were about six walkers by the cars, all hunched over a few bodies eating from them.

She saw on the other side of the cars, that there were a few walkers in the middle of the road, walking away from her. Knowing that there was no way she'd want to cross past the cars and through the other walkers, she decided to chance the woods instead. Deciding to go left, she turned and quickly made her way through, ignoring her aches. She was feeling light headed, but there was no stopping.

To her dismay, the walkers continued to follow her and even though she was much faster than them, they were able to keep up. Or at least it seemed that way. All she was thinking about, was trying to find a safe place to elude them, which would be easier said than done. There didn't seem to be any suitable place nearby.

She quickened her pace through the woods and soon came upon a railroad track. She saw a walker stuck in puddle of thick mud from waist down. It reached out to her as she passed by. Without a second glance, she cut off its head and continued on her way.

She passed the railroad and continued on her way until she came to another road. There now seemed to be walkers on all sides approaching her fast. She wasn't sure how she was going to come out from this alive. She had a barely enough bullets and her machete would only get her so far.

Suddenly, she heard a car approach and pull up alongside her. She saw three people in the car, two males and a female. "Get in," Abraham said with an intense look as he eyed the walkers behind her. "If you want to live."

Carol knew she had no other choice. She opened the back door and took a seat beside a nerdy looking male with a horrible hairdo. "Hello," He said looking at her anxiously. "My name is Eugene."

* * *

Gareth stepped into the large lobby that was now used for processing supplies and approached the four men and women, who were tied up and bound to a trough in the middle of the room with a ravenous look in his eyes. Each of them had straw bags covering their heads. Yet, even though they couldn't see him, they knew he was close by.

He removed the bags covering them and tossed them aside. All of them looked at him fearfully, but kept silent. "Hey there," He said looking at them. "You have nothing to fear."

The male on the far left tried to talk, but with his mouth bound, all that was heard was muffled sounds.

"Oh I'm sorry," Gareth said turning toward him. He removed the handkerchief. "Now what was that you were saying?"

The man looked at him terrified. "Who are you and what do you want?"

Gareth smiled politely. "Well after that awful car accident I witnessed," He answered, "I felt that you guys needed my help."

The man shook his head. "You caused that accident," He told him.

Gareth thought back to him shooting up the cars, while he was searching for Carol. He was happy to be able to get four out of the nine total passengers. Even though he felt a bit bummed out that he didn't find her, he was glad to have found others.

Gareth chuckled and shrugged. "Simple semantics," He said as he pulled out his sharp switchblade and flicked it open. He approached the first man and cut his throat without a second thought.

The three other who were watching, began to schriek and tried to break out of the restraints. Gareth turned toward them and grabbed the next person by her hair and leaned close to her ear. "The real reason you are here," He whispered perilously. "Is because I am hungry." He sliced her throat and then pushed her body over the trough as she bled into it. He looked at the two others who were watching horrified. "Okay," He asked playfully as he waved the bloody knife in front of them. "Who's next?"


	8. Red Light Green Light

TWD: Crimson Tears

Chapter 8: Red Light Green Light

Abraham glanced in the rear view mirror as he sped away from the horde of walkers. A few of them reached out to their car, but only got smashed in the process. Blood and guts splattered all over the car as they passed by. A thump was heard as they drove over a walker, flattening it completely. He looked in the mirror and laughed as he eyed its mangled carcass.

"Now that is some serious bug eyed sick shit there," He said pleased. He howled loudly like a dog and drummed his hands on the steering wheel, which made Eugene jump slightly in his seat.

Rosita glanced at Abraham amused. She was used to him acting this way. It was the little kid in him and that was okay. Especially with the state of the world around them. She didn't mind it at all. In fact, she kind of enjoyed it. The more he showed the comical side in him, the more it made her forget their desperate state.

She thought back to the beginning of the outbreak which seemed like ages ago. She joined a group of survivors that consisted of Josiah, Stephanie, Warren, Rex Pam, Roger, Dirk, and Josephine. At first, she didn't like them, mainly because she was shy, but soon she warmed up to them. Soon they taught the necessary skills that were essential for her survival as well. She also was taught the skills to serve as an emergency medic.

While traveling through Houston, Rosita and her group were surrounded by a large horde of walkers and when things seemed grim, they were rescued by Abraham and Eugene. Impressed by her skills, Abraham requested her help and informed her of a potential cure which gave Rosita a sense of purpose that she never truly felt before.

She and her group joined with Abraham to help transport Eugene to Washington D.C. All seemed well for a while, but during the group's travels from Houston to Georgia, they suffered repeated casualties until Rosita was the remaining member of her group, outside of Abraham and Eugene.

While this was occurring, she developed a close bond with Abraham and soon fell in love with him. This also allowed Abraham to move on from the emotional trauma that stemmed from his family's sudden and gruesome deaths.

"What's your name?" Eugene asked her.

"Carol," She simply answered.

Abraham looked at Carol. "What were you doing out there?" He asked her.

Carol looked at him. "I was looking for supplies," She responded. She didn't want to tell them about the prison and why she had to leave.

Eugene looked at her with a serious expression. "You are lucky that we found you just in time," He said to her. "There has been a sudden increase in walker movement in this area recently. It isn't safe to be alone."

"Are you alone?" Rosita asked which in her eyes was the most important question. "Or are you part of a group?" If she was maybe they'd be able to join forces and head to Washington D.C together. It would definitely make everything much easier.

Carol looked at her and shook her head. "No. I am alone."

Rosita was a bit bummed. "I see," She said looking back at the road.

Carol looked out the window for a moment, watching the trees speed by. She saw the occasional walker, but none that posed any threat. She looked back at Abraham and then asked, "Are you part of a group?" She wasn't sure what to ask.

Abraham looked at her. "No group," He said, "Just us in here."

Eugene looked at her. "We are on a special mission," He said ignoring the looks of uncertainty from the others. He paused for a moment. "There is a cure for the infection in Washington D.C. and we are on the way there now."

Carol gave him a look of disbelief. "There is no cure," She said simply.

Eugene shook his head. "There is a cure," He said boldly. "And we are on a one-way ticket there."

Carol didn't believe him. "And what is this cure exactly?" She asked him.

"I can't tell you what the cure is exactly," Eugene told her. "For it is classified information." He paused for a moment. "But I can assure you that there is in fact a cure."

Carol kept silent, not sure what to respond to him. She looked out the window, wondering what she was still doing here. She could easily tell them to stop and that she wanted to go on her own way. The whole Washington cure thing seemed to be a load of bogus, but she was far too tired to leave the car. Maybe going there would work out in the end, even if she didn't believe in the mission.

* * *

Dwight and Paula cautiously made their way through the woodsy section outside of the Governor's camp. They kept hidden the entire time, as to not be seen. It was pretty easy, because of all the trees that surrounded them. Michelle was by their car smoking and keeping it safe.

Paula was in the lead with a gun in her hand and a machete in her on her belt, ready for anything. Dwight was by her side with a gun in his hand as well and a machete as back up. Both kept their eye out for the Governor and his men or any walkers.

"Are you certain he is here?" She asked Dwight as they quickened their pace.

Dwight gave her a dumbfounded look. "Of course," He said in almost a mocking manner. "I was the one that stabbed him and I was the one who made sure he fell into the Governor's hands." He heard movement to his right and pointed his gun toward the source of the noise, but saw nothing. He searched for a few moments, but still saw nothing. It could have been his mind playing tricks on him.

"Good," Paula said glancing at him. "Because he is essential to the plan."

Dwight looked at her, but didn't say anything. They walked in silence until they heard the groaning coming from the trench filled with walkers. They approached it and peered inside. Dwight cursed when he saw the mangled corpse of Bill, who was now a walker. The walker Bill, reached out to them with a chewed up and bloody arm. It groaned as it tried to pull itself out from amidst the pile.

"Well this certainly is a turn of events," Dwight said shaking his head in dismay.

"Not really," She said looking at him. "The whole plan was to use Bill as a pawn here. Negan will now want to meet with the Governor with Bill's death in his hands." She turned away from the trench and began to walk back to the car, now wanting to spend any more time here. "And we all know what that means."

Dwight followed her. "That's true," He agreed. "We also need to discuss Terminus with him and what he intends to do with them."

Paula made a face of disgust. "I know," She said thinking about knowing what they did for food. "Knowing Negan, he will definitely want to meet with them before anything else." She shook her head. "Boy, that will definitely be a fucked up conversation."

Dwight gave her a questioning look. "With Terminus or Neegan?" He asked perplexed.

Paula gave him a dumbfounded look. "Neegan of course, you idiot," She said ignoring his sudden look. She didn't care if she offended him. She wasn't in the mood for his stupidity. "Imagine how I have to tell him that Terminus is full of cannibals that aren't the infected." She quickened her pace, as to return to their car faster. "How they kidnap innocent people and tell them that they have a place to live, only to eat them instead?" She shook her head. "Damn."

Dwight saw a walker approach them from behind a tree. He grabbed his machete and stabbed it in the head, leaving the corpse behind. He wiped the blood off and put it away. "It will be more fun when he talks to Terminus," He told her. "But that is my opinion."

Paula nodded in agreement. "Of course it will," She said already knowing what the outcome of that conversation will be.

* * *

Glenn sat on the edge of his bed as Herschel used a flashlight to check his pupil reaction, which were equal and reactive. He clicked off the flashlight and pocketed it. Maggie stood in the corner of the room, hands on her hips, watching the both of them intently.

"No headaches?" Herschel asked.

Glenn looked at him. "Nope," He said shaking his head.

"Nausea?" Herschel asked. "Dizziness?"

"No," Glenn answered, "And no."

"Are you seeing spots?" Herschel continued to ask. "Any loss of memory?"

"Nope," He shook his head again. "I feel a bit sore, sensitive to light, and noise. Other than that, I consider myself okay."

Herschel nodded and wiped his hands on his pants. "Good." He smiled at him and then his daughter. "That's great to hear." He drew a breath and shifted on his crutches to get more comfortable. "Well, Maggie is going to change your bandages." He patted Glenn's knee affectionately. "I will be back to check on you later." He nodded at his daughter and then left the room.

Maggie took a seat beside him and gave him a loving smile. She reached out and grasped his hand affectionately. "I am glad you are doing better," She said happily. She kissed his cheek and held on to him with one arm.

"Yeah me too," Glenn said looking at her lovingly. "Hopefully soon I can start working again and go on a run."

Maggie caressed his cheek and turned toward him. She leaned close kissing him deeply. "We'll see," She said softly in between kisses.

"We could always go to the watchtower," He suggested in her ear sensually . He reached out and pinched her inner thigh playfully.

Maggie gasped as a rush of excitement shot through her. She scooted closer to him, wanting him like crazy. "That would be awesome," She said hopefully. "But soon." She looked into his tired, yet excited eyes and then bit her lower lip. "You will need all the energy you can get."

Glenn saw her hesitation and gave her a reassuring smile. "Sounds like a plan," He kissed her tenderly. "When I am feeling better, how about you and I go on a small supply run. It will be our time together, that we don't really seem to get anymore."

Maggie smiled brightly and took his hand, squeezing it. "I'd love that," She said happily.

Glenn chuckled. "It's a date," He said softly, "But before we do that, maybe we can grab something to eat." He gave her a passionate look. "I will need all the energy I could get."

Maggie laughed and shook her head. "No complaints there," She said, "I could always eat. But before we do that, let me change that bandage of yours."

* * *

Gareth sat on top of the large shed, gun by his side keeping guard. He was feeling full and bloated, but content that he had eaten a full meal and had more than enough meat for the next few days. No one would be going hungry, any time soon.

The last two victims, at the last second, he decided to keep alive still tied up by the trough. There was enough meat from the first two bodies to keep them sustained for the rest of the week. There were other provisions that were kept under heavy guard, which was only used when their main source of food wasn't available. The search was constant and seemed to grow scares with each passing day.

The sun was slowly descending with night right around the corner, leaving the sky full of streaks of orange and red. It was beginning to grow a bit cooler and there was a slight wind in the air, but was still far too hot. It needed to rain, to clear the humidity, but it didn't look like that would happen anytime soon.

Gareth belched softly and thought of Carol. He wondered where she was from and where she was going? What kind of group she was from and how far they were from here? Did they pose a threat or not? Was there man in her life or was she alone?"

He found her not only fascinating, but extremely attractive. More than that, she seemed tough and had extreme survival instincts. Since she wasn't in Terminus, he didn't have to think about whether having her by his side or killing her to eat her body.

A sudden whistling in the distance caught his attention and he jumped to his feet. He narrowed his eyes and scanned his surroundings outside of the fence. There was a sudden gust of wind, causing the trees to sway. He didn't see anything, which didn't mean anything, since it was beginning to get darker.

The whistling not only grew louder, but it seemed as if more people joined. He continued to scan their surroundings, hoping to catch a glimpse of who was doing this whistling, but he couldn't see anything. Whoever this was, was staying well hidden.

Alex approached from another part of camp and looked at Gareth. "I don't know man," He said to him with a shrug.

"I didn't see anything either," Alex said watching him step down the ladder on the shed. A shiver ran up his spine as the whistling grew louder and more ominous.

"Shit," Gareth cursed. He continued to scan his surroundings, even though he knew it did little good. "Go get my mother," He said to him. "It's probably nothing, but for some reason, it doesn't feel like it."

Alex turned away to get Mary. He returned moments later with her and everyone else. "It's creepy," One of the other Terminus members said to another.

Mary looked at her son. "Do you see anything?" She asked trying ignore the nervous pit in her stomach. She hated to have to raise a weapon to defend herself and everyone here, but she would if she had to.

Gareth shook his head. "No," He simply said.

At that moment lights from parked cars that were small enough to fit in between the trees around Terminus, shone brightly from all directions blinding them. The whistling grew louder, almost to the point of hypnotic. No matter where any of them looked, they were blinded by the light.

Gareth tightened his grip on his gun and stepped near his mother, keeping her safe. He wasn't sure what this was, but knew it wasn't good. Everyone that had guns on them, were now holding them ready to defend themselves.

He heard footsteps behind him and turned to see at least twenty dangerous people coming from the far end of their camp with the guns drawn. He cursed as they approached surrounding them. His mother touched his arm and shook her head, telling him not to make a move.

A car smashed through fence, breaking it down which gave way for more cars. Gareth had the urge to fire, but held back when he managed to see through the blinding light, more people standing by the fence with guns drawn at them.

He saw a tall man step through the broken fence and with an intense look in his eyes, he approached them extremely confident. He was wearing jeans, with a leather jacket, and a small red bandana around his neck. He had a small five-day beard and a large machete hooked on his jeans. In his grasp was a wooden bat with barbed wire tightly wound around it.

He stepped up to Gareth and eyed him disapprovingly. "Hey," He introduced himself. He motioned for his men to take their weapons. "I'm Negan." He began to pace in front of them, as his men lined up all the Terminus residents on their knees. "I don't know if you heard of me and my group here, but that isn't really important." He looked at Gareth, who was glaring at him, trying to hide his terror in his eyes. It seemed to amuse him. "Who is the leader here?"

No one answered, which didn't surprise Negan. This was the usual response he received from a group when he introduced himself to them, so he was used to it. In the end though, someone spoke up. They always did, even if things grew messy in the process.

"You know with a group like this." Negan continued eyeing every resident, who was watching him fearfully. "There are many ways to keep eyes on groups movements here." He looked at Gareth again with a small smile on his face. "Each group does different things to survive here, which makes sense." He took a step toward him. "But when I heard what this group does to survive. I was shocked beyond belief." He shook his head. "Shit, I had to see it for myself."

Paula approached him and said in a low tone that only he could hear. "There's a male and female tied up in the building up ahead and there are two others on a table, that have been cut up and cooked."

Negan nodded as she stepped away from him, keeping a loathing eye on Gareth. "It's interesting," He continued, "Because you guys don't look like a crazy group like that. You know the ones in the movies that have lost all sense in life and act like a savage pack of dogs." He shifted his bat to his other shoulder and once again paced in front of the group. "But looks are deceiving." He pointed his bat at each of them threateningly. "Now who is the leader here?"

"I am," Mary said finally speaking up. She ignored the sudden look that her son gave her.

Negan looked at her impressed. She didn't look like the leader type. "Well hello there." He bowed slightly almost mockingly. "So let me ask you this." He pointed his bat at her, causing Gareth to flinch defensively. "Whoa. Wait a minute." He looked at Gareth and then back at her. "Mother and son?" He laughed at the new found information. "Holy shit."

"What do you want?" Mary asked annoyed.

Negan's smile vanished. "I ask the questions here," He snapped, "And you answer them." He narrowed his eyes at her. "Now what in the holy hell would lead you to kidnap people and eat them? Shit peoples. That is just plain fucking disgusting." He scanned everyone on their knees. "I thought I saw it all before, but that all changed when I found out about you guys." He shook his head. "So because of the travesty of this situation, severe consequences must be given out."

"You can't be serious?" Gareth spat out.

Negan glared at him. "See there is this special lady that I want to introduce to you guys," He said waving his bat in front of them. "This is Lucille and she loves meeting new people." He pointed it at Gareth. "One of you guys are going to bleed." He chuckled dangerously. "Bleed bad. Like broken egg bad." He paced in front of them. "If any of you move. Cry out. Say anything. I will cut up Lucille's first victim and feed each and every one of you the remains uncooked." He pointed his bat to the first one in the row. She looked at him with terrified tears streaming down her face.

"Now after I beat the holy hell out of one of you guys," Negan continued, "You can cry. You talk. You can mourn." He frowned. "You could even fight back out of anger, but I'd have to say that'd be awfully stupid to do."

He began to sing the Eenie Meenie song with his bat touching all of them, either on the shoulder, face, or beneath the chin. He continued singing the song, until he came upon his chosen victim. "Remember what I said," He said loudly. "Any of you open your mouth or make any movement of any sort, will be having a tasty tasty snack."

Negan raised Lucille high and smashed Gareth on the top of the head as hard as he could. Blood dripped down from his partially smashed head. He struggled to stay on his knees as his vision blurred and he felt explosions of pain.

Even with his dangerous warning words, almost everyone shrieked in terror. He ignored it and smashed him on the head again as more blood poured out of the wounds like an open faucet. His body collapsed to the floor. He smashed it again, completely flattening part of his head. Brain matter and blood splattered everywhere. He continued smashing his head until he completely obliterated the upper portion of Gareth's body.

He stopped hitting him and stood up straight, breathing heavily. He looked at what remained of his body and laughed. "Shit," He shook his head. "I fucking love it." He grew serious when he glanced at Mary who was openly sobbing for her son. She was covered in his blood and brain matter, with a horrified look on her face. "Now as I had mentioned before, since you fuckers didn't listen to me. You will suffer even more so." He motioned for Dwight, knowing that he was sick and twisted enough to do it. "You will be eating the remainder of your beloved friend here and if you don't, you will be Lucilled as well. Then the remainder of you will eat those that I had killed and if not, well there are lots of you to continue the circle." He laughed loudly. "I fucking love me Lucille."

Negan watched with sickened enjoyment as Dwight began to cut off pieces of Gareth and toss them in front of each of the remaining members. "Please don't be shy," He said mockingly. "Eat up. There's plenty to go around." He laughed loudly watching them look at the bloody flesh before them.


	9. Trials and Tribbles

TWD: Crimson Tears

Chapter 9: Trials and Tribbles

Rick wasn't sure what sound woke him from his slumber, but he opened his eyes with a start and felt immediate fear. It began with a tingle in his spine and then spread through his body like wildfire. He slid out of bed and almost robotically walked out of his room. He left the left sleeping area and using a flashlight, he walked toward the middle of the prison, where he met Daryl.

Daryl had his crossbow slung over his shoulder and a machete on his belt. He looked at Rick, with an intense, yet anxious look in his eyes. "You heard it too?" He asked him.

Daryl nodded and glanced into the darkened hallway, that led to the lower level of the prison. Neither of them had been down there in weeks. It had been labeled as a red zone. Most of the walkers had been cleared out, but there were still a few down there, hidden in the darkness.

"What is it?" Rick asked as he shined his flashlight into the hallway. A tingle spread up his spine as he felt sweat drip down it.

"Don't know," Daryl simply responded. "Walker maybe."

Both of them heard the sound again. It sounded like a thump and then scratching. It was faint, but loud enough that they recognized what it was. It sounded as if a walker had fallen and was struggling to get up or that a walker had gotten one of theirs and that person was struggling to break free. Either way they had to check it out.

Rick tightened his grip on his flashlight and pulled out his gun. He motioned for Daryl to follow him, which he promptly did. They walked toward the end of the hallway, where a darkened staircase led them to the lower level. Neither of them noticed that the doors at the top of the stairs and at the foot of the stairs were opened a crack.

They slowly walked down another hallway watching each other's back as they both of them used their flashlights to see. Blood was smeared and splattered on the walls in random areas, but there were no signs of any walkers in any of the other cells. Useless garbage was scattered everywhere. There was the occasional rat that would dart out the moment light struck it.

Suddenly Rick heard a cell door creak open and then shut in front of them. Both shined their lights in the direction of the noise, and at first saw nothing. But as they approached, they saw a darkened figure exit the cell and shine a light at them.

"Dad?" A terrified voice asked. "Daryl?"

"Carl?" Rick asked him confused. Daryl looked away from the light. "What are you doing down here?"

Carl was about to answer, when they heard a baby's piercing cries echo loudly throughout the opposite end of the darkened hallway. Rick immediately thought of Judith and grew scared. All three of them cast their lights in the direction, but only ended up casting eerie shadows along the walls. On either wall in between each cell. The lights barely illuminated the graphite and he could see a large blood stain splattered on the wall.

Rick glanced at his son briefly who was staring into the hallway with terror in his eyes. He was biting his lower lip and looking quite pale. He began to head toward the sound of the crying, when he reached out grabbed his hand. "You can't be serious?" He asked looking at him with pleading eyes.

Rick looked at his and saw the fear in his eyes. He didn't blame him one bit. He was just as scared, but he just learned how to control it. Going deeper was certain suicide. But he didn't care. Not when his daughter may be in trouble. If it was her. The sobbing sounded different. More high pitched. Yet, regardless if it was her or not, he was still feeling terrified.

Daryl and Carl were right behind him, when a walker stepped out of the cell to Rick's right. Rick grabbed it by the arm and neck, throwing it against the wall as Daryl stabbed into in the head. Rick shoved the walker back into the cell and the continued on his way, as the baby's piercing cries grew louder and more ecstatic.

Without a second glance, Rick continued on his way, trying to be as cautious as he could, yet moving as quickly as possible. With Daryl and Carl watching his back, it made it easier. But not by much. Amidst this darkness, walkers could be hiding anywhere and could dart out from anywhere. Extra caution needed to be used.

He looked inside the cell on to his left and saw a walker standing amidst the shadows facing the wall. Her long dirty black hair clung to her face. For a brief moment he saw that it looked like Lori, but that changed when she turned around. Her face was half gone, chewed up by walkers. Her cheeks and jaw were bitten off that you could see inside the mouth. One of her eyes were bitten off and the other was hanging by its tendon. Blood and black ooze dripped out of her mouth, while her eye waved back and forth as she approached them.

"Damn," Daryl said watching Rick cut off her head. Blood squirted over his face and shirt like a cherry tomato.

The baby's crying grew louder and closer. Rick looked into the next cell and saw a baby bouncer in the middle of the floor. It was flipped over and covering blood. There was a scratchy blanket covering it, which was extremely dirty and bloodstained.

Rick slowly approached it apprehensively and reached out, grasping the blanket. He held his breath as he pulled it off and tossed it aside. He turned the bouncer over, but there was no baby in it. Instead there was a blood stained pacifier in it.

Rick stood up straight and turned around to see a walker step out from the other cell and grab him. Daryl and Carl were nowhere to be seen. Instead there were a half a dozen walkers in the hallway instead. He cursed and pulled out his gun, shooting the walkers as quickly and efficiently as he could. He soon ran out of bullets and then grabbed his machete just as a walker grabbed his arm. He tried to pull out of its grasp, when everything grew dark.

He opened his eyes and found himself in bed. He was covered in sweat and twisted in his sheets. He still felt the walker's touch on his arm. He heard Judith whimpering, so he slid out of bed and approached her bed. She was wide awake and staring at him with a small smile on her face. She reached out to him as he picked her up.

"Hey there," He said with the image of the dream still fresh in his mind. He kissed her on the cheek and held her tightly.

Carl exited his room and looked at his dad. "Hey," He said as he approached.

Rick smiled at him as he rocked Judith back to sleep. "Can't sleep?" He asked.

Carl shook his head. "Just the opposite," He said with a small shrug. He reached out and caressed Judith's tiny hand. She looked at him and cooed. "Slept four hours solid and now feel fresh." He frowned. "Just as if I slept the whole night."

"Nice," Rick simply responded.

Carl looked at his father and could tell that his mind was miles away. "Is everything okay?" He asked him.

Rick gave his son a reassuring look. "Yeah," He simply responded. "Just tired." He wasn't interested in discussing the dream with him.

For a few moments neither of them spoke. Rick was watching Judith lovingly as she was nearly asleep. "Dad," Carl said breaking the silence. "I've been wondering something." His dad looked at him. "What's the plan here? How long are we going to stay here?"

Rick was surprised that he was asking him that. He wasn't sure what to respond, mainly because he wasn't sure what to tell him. Was this their home? Or was it just a temporary solution? Were there better and safer places than here? Or was this the safest place they'd find?

How safe were they here? There were double fences around the prison, which was pretty secure itself, although it needed constant maintenance. But if the fences didn't prove to be secure enough, then there was still the gates and cement walls around the prison. They had plenty of supplies and alcohol, so they were pretty good.

"What do you think of this place?" Rick glanced out the window as the moonlight shone through.

Carl glanced at the window as well and shrugged. "Cold," He said, "But not too bad."

Rick looked at him and chuckled. "Well it is a prison," He simply frowned. "But do you think of this place as a home?"

Carl shrugged. "I guess so," He said running a hand through his messy hair. "We are safe here." He glanced at Judith who was fast asleep in his dad's arms. "Can't complain with that in this day and age."

"I concur," Rick said as he placed Judith back in her crib. He wished her a goodnight and stifled a yawn. He looked at his son and saw the moon's glow glisten in his eyes. "I have an idea. We are running low on diapers and wanted to know if you wanted to go on a run with me."

Excitement flashed in his eyes. "Really?" He asked him.

"Sure." Rick nodded. He yawned again and scratched his neck. "We can leave after breakfast."

Carl smiled. "Sounds great," He said happily. He had been aching to get out for a while. "Thanks dad."

Rick smiled at him and nodded again. "Sure Carl," He said to him. "Good night." He squeezed his shoulder affectionately and then stumbled tiredly back to bed.

* * *

Abraham stepped out of the car and into the humid morning air. He opened the car's hood and eyed the smoke that billowed out, causing his eye to tear. Not only were they low on gas but the engine was now shot. He groaned and waved the smoke away with both of his hands.

"How bad is it?" Rosita asked with her hands on her hips. She had the semi-automatic slung over her shoulder.

Abraham looked at her and slammed the hood shut. He shook his head and spat on the ground. "May the sky rain diamond turds before we have some god damn luck here." He said to her angrily.

Rosita sighed. "Shit," She said unhappily. "Now what?"

Abraham glance at Eugene and Carol and scratched his facial hair. Carol was standing by the side of the road, watching them both intently and with a faraway look. It seemed as if she had a lot on her mind. Eugene was leaning against the car with his arms crossed over his chest and a nervous expression on his face.

"Walk," Abraham said annoyed. He glanced at her. "And pray that we find a working vehicle soon."

ROsita sighed again, feeling instantly more exhausted that she had felt in the longest time. Not only did her legs feel like led and jello at the same time, but her back and neck hurt. She also had a headache and even though she took Advil not too long ago, but the headache seemed to grow worse.

She shook her head. "Well shit," She grumbled.

Abraham agreed with her and stepped up to Eugene and Carol. "Well this car is as broken as my cousin's dick," He told them.

Eugene gave him a bewildered look. "What is that supposed to mean?" He didn't understand his analogy.

Abraham was about to tell him about his cousin who came out at a family convention and told everyone there, that he was going to have a sex change. But knowing that it wouldn't help in any way, he decided against it. Instead he spat on the ground again beside the car and then shrugged.

"Well to put it simply," Abraham said to him. "It would take a miracle more than baby Jesus himself can provide for this car to work again."

Eugene seemed to like that answer better, even if it were just as colorful. "Or someone who had the proper tools and knowledge to fix the engine," He replied as he uncrossed his arms. He turned toward him. "But since we have neither, the only course of action now is two things."

Rosita gave him a sudden look. The way he spoke irked her. She believed in the mission, but dislike him. "What is that?" She asked.

"Well we can follow this road and hope we find a car, which I highly doubt we will be as lucky," He said eyeing everyone. "The other option is to travel the few miles to Terminus and see if we can make a trade there."

Abraham scratched the back of his neck. "The second option sounds better," He said.

Carol shook her head not liking the idea at all. "We know nothing about this place," She told him. "We know nothing of who these people are and what they are like."

Abraham gave her an understanding look. "That's why we will scope out the place first of course," He said, "I have no interest in knocking on their front door, before we get a good look at the place before hand.

Carol wasn't too satisfied, but she didn't press on. "Fine then," She said, "Lead the way."

Everyone grabbed all the supplies and then began to follow the signs toward Terminus. "So anyone know a good joke," Abraham said trying to lighten the moment. When no one responded, he decided to tell one. "When do walkers go sleep?" He asked waiting a moment for anyone to answer. No one did, so he told them the answer. "When they are dead tired."

Carol and Rosita glanced at each other without laughing. Eugene looked at him and shook his head. "That was an awful joke," He told him.

Abraham chuckled. "That's true," He said, "That was a pretty shitty joke."

* * *

Rick made sure Judith was tucked in and comfortable for her morning nap, before he made his way to breakfast. Breakfast was the usual, plain oatmeal, which he enjoyed. He had lost his sweet tooth ages ago. It could've been because it had been ages since he had some good and tasty sweets or that he was just getting older. or both.

He said good morning to everyone and then took a bowl of oatmeal for himself. He began to eat it, when Darl sat in front of him. He licked the oatmeal nosily off his fingers. "I hear you're are taking Carl out on a supply run," He said to him.

Rick took a spoonful of oatmeal. "I am," He said.

Daryl shifted in his spot. "Do you want backup to your backup?" He asked him. "Unless you assumed I would go anyways."

Rick ate the oatmeal. "That's true," He said.

Daryl chuckled and ate more oatmeal without a spoon. "I see," He said licking his fingers noisily.

Rick leaned close and looked him in the eyes. "You don't seem like someone who likes to be cooped up for too long," He said to him, "And it has been a few days since you went out on a supply run."

Daryl nodded with a frown. "That's true," He said amused. "Well count me in partner." He ate the oatmeal loudly. "When do we leave?"

Rick looked at his son who was sitting with all the children eating oatmeal and laughing loudly. "Soon," He said watching them.

"Well I'm fully packed and ready to go," Daryl said.

About ten minutes later, they were all ready to go. Carl went to his room to get his bag, hat and gun. He removed a photo that he kept beneath his pillow of his dad, mom, and himself taken years ago standing on their front porch. He looked at it and a smile grew on his face. His thoughts were miles away, that he didn't even notice that Beth had entered his room.

"That's a beautiful picture," She said looking at it with a smile on her face.

Carl looked at her and nodded. He folded the picture and placed it in his back pocket. "Thanks," He said smiling at her. He slung his backpack over his shoulder. "I got to go." He said almost awkwardly.

Beth took a step closer to him. "Yeah I know," She said with emotion flashing in her eyes. "Be safe." She leaned close and kissed his cheek tenderly.

A few minutes later, he was sitting in the passenger seat of the car thinking of Beth. He could still feel the tingle her kiss left on his check. His dad was driving, while Daryl was behind them driving his motorcycle. He looked out the window, watching the green landscape fly by, his thoughts miles away. Or precisely, back at the prison.

* * *

Abraham hid behind a tree and peered through the binoculars into Terminus' courtyard. There was a horde of walkers strolling around an even larger group that were on their knees and eating from a group of people who were lined up. Puddles of blood surrounded the bodies which grew larger every passing second.

He zoomed in to inspect the bodies that were being eaten from and saw that all, but one had body parts in their mouths. It looked as if someone had placed them in there or forced them to eat it. A body in the middle, looked like it had been pulverized by some sort of sledge hammer. Dried blood and brain matter was splattered around what remained of the body and fresh blood was beginning to run over it.

"Monkey shit," He cursed as he lowered the binoculars.

He handed them to Rosita, who looked through them, and then had a similar reaction to him. She handed it Eugene, who looked through them as well. Carol was the last to look and scanned the courtyard with an emotionless look on her face. She handed the binoculars back to Abraham.

Eugene looked at Abraham. "Now what?"

Abraham look a deep breath and was about to answer, when he heard movement from behind a tree. He pointed his gun at the sound and saw a grungy looking man step out with his hands up in the air. He had long dirty grey hair that hung to his shoulders. He was wearing dirty blue jeans, a black t-shirt, and a black leather vest.

"Whoa," He said with a nervous chuckle. "I mean no harm here."

Abraham gave him a hardened look of distrust and didn't lower the gun. In fact he took a step toward him. "Who the hell are you?" He asked, "And what the hell do you want?"

The man continued to keep his hands raised defensively. "The name is Joe," He said calmly. "And I am here for the same thing you are here for." He nodded with his head toward the fence. "Terminus." He shrugged and chuckled. "But that changed."

Abraham was about to respond, when he saw movement from all side. Seven men stepped out from behind the trees around them with their guns drawn at them. "Shit," He cursed as he eyed all of them surrounding them.

Joe took a step toward Abraham. "Your weapons," He said dangerously as he paced in front of them. "Remove them and toss them aside."

Abraham groaned and did just that. Rosita followed suit and Carol soon after. Eugene who didn't have any weapons on him. He stood there sweating profusely and terrified. "Now what?" Abraham asked.

Joe cleared his throat loudly. "Well since Terminus was a total bust," He said eying each of them intently. "I need all of your supplies."

"You have got to be kidding," Rosita spat.

"Do I look like I am joking?" He asked stepping up to her. He eyed her up and down shaking his head. He turned away from her and then looked at Carol who was watching him with a snarl on her face. "Well hey there darling." He licked his lips. "You are my kind of woman. A Spanish whore like that," He motioned toward Rosita. "She'd just leaves me with a burning sensation." Carol glared at him.

"So all of your supplies," He said continuing to look at the rest of the group. "Will now be my supplies."

Carol didn't budge. She eyed him, sickened at the thought that Joe was very similar to Ed. They had similar mannerisms, all the way down to their walk. She then thought of Sophia and an image of Rick shooting her as she stumbled out of the barn. Her disgust intensified as Joe touched her shoulder.

"I have hungry people here," Joe said looking at all of them. "So everything you have, toss on the ground in front of you."

Carol had a feeling that these guys wouldn't leave with just their supplies. Chances were, that once they had the supplies, Joe would have them all shot as to not leave a trail. These men were the type that took whatever they wanted, without a care in the world. It was them versus the world in their eyes. Anyone who wasn't with them, was against them.

She knew she had to do something and do it quick. Since she had no weapons, there was one thing to do. The moment he wasn't paying attention to her, she went to kick him in the groin, but he side stepped before she was able to do so. He chuckled and grabbed her spinning her around. He held on to her tightly, pressing his groin against her rear end.

"Now that was a very naughty thing to do," He whispered in her ear. He eyed the three others briefly as Carol tried to break out of his grasp. "Miss what are you going to do now? Break out?" He laughed at her mockingly.

Carol began to see red as his laughter pulsed in her ears like a bad headache. It grew so bad that it blinded her. She knew that there was one last thing to do if she wanted to remain alive. Even though it disgusted her immensely, this was the only option.

Carol turned her head and bit him as hard as she could in the jugular. Warm blood instantly flowed into her mouth as he cried out in pain. He let go of her and reached for his throat. She grabbed his body and used it as a shield to block the bullets from the other guys. At the same time, she spit out his bloody flesh.

She reached for the gun on his belt and shot a few of the men in the head, before Abraham, and Rosita reached for their guns to fight back. Carol shoved Joe aside, who was still gurgling on his own blood. She hid behind the closest tree and fired at the closest guy, but missed. He returned with a shot, but missed as well.

Carol continued to shoot at him and make her way toward him, using trees as cover. When she was close enough, she shot at him, but heard the click of an empty chamber. The man began to laugh and went to fire at her, but heard the click of an empty chamber as well.

Carol took this moment and kicked him in the groin as hard as she could. He cried out in pain and reached for his groin. He collapsed to his knees. She grabbed him by the head and roughly smashed his head against the tree. She continued to smash his head against the tree as she thought about all the bad things that have happened to her during her miserable life.

She continued to do so, until Abraham grabbed her shoulder, and told her to stop. She let go of his mangled body and stepped away from him. She didn't notice that she was covered in blood from her waist up. Especially her face, from when she bit Joe's throat. She did notice Abraham and Rosita giving her a strange look and Eugene, who had a horrified look on his face. "What?" She asked looking at them with a weird expression.


	10. Eyesore

TWD: Crimson Tears

Chapter 10: Eyesore

The Governor was sitting beside Lilly and Meghan by the small bonfire they made near their trailer. He had a metal hanger in his hand and three marshmallows stuck on the end of it. He waved them over the fire, trying to get the outside golden, but not to burn them.

Lilly watched with a loving smile on her face, while Meaghan watched him with curious amusement. "The whole idea for this," He said to her, "Is to make sure that it gets crispy and melted at the same time, without burning it."

Meaghan looked at the marshmallows over the fire. "But these are stale?" She asked, wondering if they'd taste the same.

The Governor chuckled. "That they are," He said the fire reflecting in his eyes. "But by toasting them slowly, it makes them taste fresh and delicious."

Meaghan seemed satisfied by the answer. She looked at her mother, who was pushing marshmallows on to her hanger. Lilly glanced at her and smiled. She stuck the marshmallows into the fire and within seconds, they had caught fire. It took only a second for them to become charred.

"Ew," Meaghan are with a grossed out expression. "Are you really going to eat that?"

Lilly blew out the flame. "Yep," She said as she took a small bite of it. Part of the melted marshmallow stuck to her lip. She licked it off.

"I agree with her," The Governor said to Lilly. "Just tastes like burned ash when you eat it that way." He handed the hanger to Meaghan. "It's finished and ready to be eaten." He placed more on another hanger just as Martinez approached. "Would you like some?" He asked him handing him the hanger.

Martinez shook his head. "We have visitors," He simply said. He glanced at Lilly who suddenly grew concerned.

The Governor saw the urgency in his eyes and handed the hanger to Lilly. "I will be right back, "He said as he stood up.

"Is everything okay?" She asked him.

The Governor kissed her on the top of the head. "Yeah," He assured her. "Stay here." He kissed Meaghan on the top of her head as well and then glanced at Lilly one last time, before he followed Martinez toward the front of their camp. "What have we got?"

Martinez gave him a strong look. "Nothing good," He simply answered.

The Governor groaned and followed him to see a few of their group standing in front of three SUVs that were parked in the front. A thin red headed woman stepped out of the middle one and a few others stepped out of the others. They were all well-armed, but weapons were by their side.

"Can I help you?" The Governor asked her distrustfully. He stepped in front of his men. Martinez was too his right.

The lady smiled at him, which caused his distrust to increase. "It isn't exactly what I want specifically, but what we can do for each other." She told him.

The Governor licked his lips and took a step toward her. "What we can do for each other?" He repeated her statement. "What is that supposed to mean?"

She took a step toward him and brushed her bangs behind her ears. "Look at this place here." She shook her head in dismay. "It is really sad." She said with fake sincerity in her voice. "I don't have enough fingers or toes to show you how many problems I can come up with this place."

The Governor glanced at Martinez who was holding his gun ready to defend if need be. "Wow." He frowned. "Sounds like you know this place quite well. If you think this is that bad, why don't you give me some suggestions?"

She smiled at him. "How about this? My name is Paula," She asked. "What is your name?"

The Governor looked at Martinez briefly, who was watching Paula sternly. "The Governor," He simply answered.

Paula gave him a weird look, pretending that she knew nothing about him. "The Governor?" She asked with a chuckle. She placed her hands on her hips. "You gotta have a first name or something?"

The Governor gave her a tough look. "That's what you will be calling me," He said to her.

Paula nodded. "Fine," She said amused at the conversation so far. "Let's get down business, shall we?"

The Governor and Martinez glanced at each other. "Okay," The Governor asked knowing that it was their best interest to just listen. "What do you propose?"

Paula smiled at him. "Actually, it will be my boss who will do the business proposition here," She said.

Martinez chuckled and shook his head. "Sounds like you are just the foreplay here," He smirked.

Paula chuckled and turned toward the SUV. She waved her hand and stepped aside as the back door of the SUV opened. A tall male, wearing faded jeans, a leather jacket with a red bandana around his neck stepped out. He had an overly confident look on his face as he approached. He had a machete by his waist and a bat wrapped in barbed wire in his hand.

The Governor stiffened and took a step toward him. The man saw this and gave him an assuring smile. "Don't worry," He said raising his hands in the air. "We are all friends here."

The Governor didn't like the way this was going, but he saw no alternative. He was outgunned and out manned. These people, whoever they were, seemed to know their way around a gun. While the people living here, only a handful knew how to defend themselves. The fight, if there was one, would be over way before it started.

He licked his lips and took a step toward the man. "Okay. Let's start by you telling me who you are and what you want?"

The man nodded. "Straight to the point." He looked at Martinez. "Well as it was pointed out earlier, the foreplay is done." He looked at the Governor. "I'm Negan and I have a proposition for you, that I think you will like."

* * *

Inside the watchtower, with a quilt spread out on the floor, Glenn and Maggie laid naked and cuddling beneath a blanket. She kissed his shoulder and then snuggled against him. He grasped her hand and kissed it.

He thought about how lucky he felt and how far he traveled since the outbreak. Before it, he was just a delivery boy that made minimum wage and was accomplishing nothing. He had no car, no money, and girls were far from the picture. His family wasn't really proud of him, since they felt that he was doing nothing with his life and at that time he was.

Then the outbreak happened and his knowledge of the city proved to be a major asset. He quickly learned to defend himself and before he knew it, he became an important part of the group and its survival. Maggie came into his life and from the moment he told her his feelings, he never looked back.

"I have to say," She said twirling a finger through his hair. "I didn't think you had it in you."

He chuckled and turned to face her. "Oh yeah?" He brushed aside her bangs.

"Well with your head injury and all," She said with a small shrug. "I thought you didn't have the energy to do what you did."

He kissed her on the lips. "You enjoyed that didn't you?" He winked at her.

She smiled and squeezed his hand lovingly. "Oh yeah," She said happily. "I'm still shaking." She whispered in his ear.

"Well I can try for round two if you want?" He asked with a playful look.

Maggie laughed and then gave him a deep kiss. "Only if you are able to," She said watching his expression of hunger. She moaned and then shifted to get in a better position for him.

Down below, Michonne, Sasha, and Tyreese were fortifying the fence with massive 2x4s that they had picked up on a supply run. There were two feet holes dug on either side of the fence about eight feet apart. Tyrese alone was able to pick up the 2x4s and secure it to the fence, but it took, Michonne and Sasha together to secure the boards against the fence.

Herschel and Maggie sitting outside in a shady part of the grass field playing with Judith. Herschel had a smile on his face, while Judith chewed on a plastic toy. She looked at the both of them with a smile on her face and drool dribbling down her chin.

"You know when you were that age," Herschel said with a faraway look. "Man there was one time, where you would cry all day and night. Momma would try anything to make you stop, but it did little good." He shook his head and chuckled. "I even gave you some alcohol, but you just like it." He wiped the drool off her chin and then on to his pants leg. "Maggie was the only one who could make you stop. I don't know how she did it, but she did."

Beth chuckled as she handed Judith another toy, which she took and immediately began to play with it. "I was that bad," She said shaking her head.

"We never found out what was wrong," Herschel said with a small shrug. "Just a phase I guess."

Beth looked at her father. "Well I am glad that I grew out of it." She brushed aside her bangs. "Imagine me being like that now." She drew a laugh.

Herschel joined in her laughter. "I remember your first day of kindergarten as if it were yesterday," He said to her. "You were so scared that you hid under your bed and missed the bus. Neither your mom and I were able to bring your out."

Beth smiled at him. "I remember that," She said handing Judith another toy. Judith studied it for a second, before taking it from her and then putting it in her mouth. "Maggie came into my room and ditched school for the day just to be with me."

Herschel chuckled. "Yeah," He said, "The next day you went to school and loved it."

Beth nodded. "It seemed like simpler times," She said with a sudden faraway look.

Herschel saw her look. "Yeah," He agreed with her.

* * *

Martinez sat on the top of his trailer with a bottle of Jack Daniels beside him and a freshly lit cigar. He stared into the dense part of the woods, his mind heavy about what just happened. None of it was as simple as it sounded. There had to have been a catch and he hated not knowing it. Being kept in the dark was something he disliked and it had always been that way.

With his father a priest, he grew up extremely religious and sheltered. Sunday was Church day, which meant being there from morning till practically evening. After school, the only recreational activity he was allowed to do was Church related. Talking to girls was out of the question. Drinking and drugs were blasphemous. He lived in a box and that didn't change until he was fifteen. Until he met a certain girl named Darcy Hopkins.

From fifteen until eighteen, he hung out with her all the time, drinking and doing drugs of all sorts. His family kicked him to the curb and at first it bothered him, but he was soon welcomed into Darcy's family. He moved in with her family, into their basement.

At eighteen, he began college and made the football team, despite practically no football experience. It seemed as if he was born with the skill to be a running back. His dream was cut short when he tore his meniscus in multiple places. After two surgeries, he found out that he couldn't play football anymore. He got a job at an auto shop and a part time job at a gym.

He married Marcy at the age of twenty-six and was surprised to find his father at the wedding. His father told him that he wanted to patch things up with him and start new. It took a while and things were awkward at first, but eventually he grew comfortable with them.

A few years later, the outbreak occurred and destroyed everything. His religious family said that the walkers were a curse from God and if they prayed hard enough, they'd get help. No help came and walkers surrounded the place, killing them all. He was lucky to come out of it alive. Overtime, he lost everyone he cared for and was about to end his life as well until he met the Governor. The Governor saved his life and gave him hope again. Killing walkers was another way he made through it and he enjoyed it.

He took a drink of Jack and saw the Governor approach. "There you are," He said to him.

Martinez looked down at him as he puffed on the cigar. "Yep," He said simply.

The Governor approached the ladder and climbed it. He took a seat beside Martinez. "You have been awfully quiet since they left," He said to him.

Martinez took another drink of Jack and then handed it to him. "I don't like it man," He said to him. "Not one bit."

The Governor nodded. "I agree," He said handing him the bottle. "It's Rick Grimes all over again."

Martinez shook his head. "No this is worse." He told him. "I don't fully understand and agree with your obsession with him, but I can understand and do agree with you when it comes to someone like him." He pointed toward the very spot the three SUVs were parked not too long ago. "This guy. Negan. Is just like him. If not worse."

"You are saying we shouldn't accept his proposition?" The Governor asked him.

Martinez swallowed anxiously and shook his head. "I don't know," He said. "I just don't see it going our way."

The Governor gave him an understanding look. "I know that," He said, "But after all that we have been through. After Woodbury. We deserve something going our way."

Martinez made a face. "I know that we do," He said, "But this just irks me wrong on many levels."

"I know," He agreed with him. "And I am not saying we go with it blindly." He looked at him seriously. "We need to do this the way we do it best."

"Agreed." Martinez nodded.

"That woman was right about this place," The Governor said eyeing the bottle of whiskey. Martinez handed it to him and he took a drink. "This place needs far better security." He looked at him. "If we want to survive, you know what we have to do."

Martinez nodded as he took a puff. "Yeah," He said simply.

"Well the first place on the list that of camps that Negan gave us is Alexandria," He said to him. "We go there. Scope out the place. See what they have to offer."

Martinez sighed and took a long drink of his whiskey. "I don't like this one bit," He repeated himself. He pushed aside the bottle, feeling drunk enough already.

"I know," The Governor patted him on the knee. "But for the safety of everyone here. It needs to be done." He stood up. "Come on. We leave in ten."

* * *

Paula placed a fully loaded gun in the SUV glove compartment and then closed it. She liked to keep one there, just in case there was an emergency. So far there has't been one, but things could change in an instant.

She shut the door and turned away from it, to see Negan standing at the far end of the garage. He was leaning against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and a faraway look on his face.,

"What?" She asked.

Negan chuckled and lowered his arms. He slowly approached her. "The Governor," He said to her. "He has been through many levels of piss and back. Do you think he really is in?"

Paula thought it over for a moment. "He would be smart to," She said.

Negan nodded. "He would be," He said. "But we have to think realistic here."

Paula ran a hand through her dirty hair. "I know we do." She began to pace in front of him. "He will, because of his desire for the safety of his people." She looked at him. "When he lost Woodbury, he went crazy. At times, he was going to kill himself, but overcame that and found the woman he currently is shacking up with. He now has a new community and would do anything to keep them safe."

"Sounds like you know him well," He said with a sly smile.

"Well we have been spying on him since Woodbury's fall," Paula said resting her hands on her hips. "But yes. I know him well. Well enough that he hates failure." She frowned. "I'd say almost as much as you do."

Negan chuckled and waged a finger at her. "It's in his best interest for him to go to Alexandria and talk to their leader. Knowing his way with words, he will be able to get his group there." He thought about it for a moment. "Now if he can behave himself and not cause any trouble." He licked his lips. "Well that is up to him."

Paula nodded and took a few steps toward him. "So all we have to do is wait," She said.

Negan was about to respond, when he saw a young boy, about five years old, peeking out from behind the garage doorway. "Michael," He said warmly. He motioned toward him. "Come on boy."

Michael ran to him and into his open arms. "Daddy," He said hugging him tightly.

Negan smiled at him and then kissed his forehead. "Why aren't you playing with the others?"

Michael glanced at Paula briefly as Negan set him gently to the ground. "I was," He said weakly. "But I heard you were back and I missed you."

Negan looked at his son. "I missed you too." He said opening the door. "Come let's go grab a soda and I will tell you about my trip."

* * *

Rick, Carl, and Daryl were in a clothing store picking up for everyone, especially for Judith who was growing every passing day. The more clothes they bought for her the better. Not to mention, everyone needed new clothes as well. Despite having showers and the ability to hand clean their clothes. The hardcore stains remained.

Carl was on his own searching for clothes himself, while Rick and Daryl were walking through the women's department to get to the men's department. When they reached it, Rick saw a colorful bathing suit and tossed it to Daryl who caught it one handed.

"Perfect fit?" He asked with a playful look.

Daryl didn't even have to take a real look at it. "What do you think I am?" He asked tossing it aside. He shook his head. "Some pansy ass homo?" He found a Corona Light one. "The others are shit. This is the closest one and I still hate it."

Rick chuckled and watched him toss it aside. "Too bad there aren't any pool nearby."

Daryl glanced at him and chuckled. "Now do I look like one of those pansy ass swimmers?"

Rick shook his head. "No," He said, "I can't see that." He glanced at Carl and saw him standing in front of the mirror, trying on different types of hats.

"Now I can use some of my brother's moonshine," He said with a laugh.

Rick gave him a surprised look. "Even with all the booze we have back home?"

"You aint never been as shit faced as you think, until you have his moonshine," Daryl said reminiscing old and far different times. "That shit'll knock you off your feet."

Rick found a shirt he liked and tossed it in his backpack. "Nah." He shook his head. "I'm more of a beer person myself." He glanced at his son again, who found him looking and turned away from the mirror to look for more clothes. "Moonshine has always tasted like pee to me."

Daryl laughed loudly. "Tastes like piss," He repeated in disbelief. "It's people like you that give it a bad name."

Rick laughed and continued shopping for clothes. After they finished here, they'd go to the pharmacy the next block over to get items they needed for Judith as well as any medical supplies they could find. Once they did that, there was a hunting and supply store a few miles away that Daryl wanted to check out.

"You know how bad it tastes," Rick said to him. "And you know that no one truly likes the taste."

Daryl groaned inwardly. "If I had a chance, I would educate all your sorry asses." He reached for a black undershirt and shoved it in his backpack. "But I guess we will have to settle with some of the water we got back in the prison."

Rick chuckled and reached for a shirt, with a funny Medical limerick on it that he thought Herschel would like. Neither of them saw movement in front of the store and by the time they did it was too late. A man they didn't recognize entered the store and began to fire at them. Rick and Daryl dropped their bags immediately and reached for their guns.

The shooter was a tall and thin man with hair to shoulders. He hid behind a shelf, while four more men entered the store. They began firing at them as well. Carl fired at them, but they shielded themselves from him.

"Carl," Rick called out to him amidst the store of bullets.

Carl looked in the direction of his dad briefly. "I'm fine," He said.

Rick glanced at Daryl who ran cunningly closer to the men, using the shelves as a barrier. He shot in their direction, catching one of them in the shoulder. Blood squirted out of the wound as he fell to the floor. Not satisfied that he was going to remain there, he shot him in the head, killing him instantly. He then fired at the others.

Carl tightened his grip on his gun and fired in their direction. He struck clothing on the shelf instead. Bullets sprayed in his direction, causing him move to another shelf beside a large glass display cheap and water downed cologne. He shot at the attackers, but missed again. They were too well hidden.

Daryl managed to get close to one of them and shot him in the throat. He fell to the ground choking on his own blood. The man closest to him saw Daryl and ran up to him, growling like a wild animal. He threw him against the closest display and then punched him in the stomach. Daryl lost his grip on his gun and it landed on the floor, below the display.

Carl saw Daryl and the man fighting and was about to fire at him, when the glass display beside him shattered. His gut told him to shield himself and tried to, when one of the men fired at him. With his head spinning, he froze for a second. It was at the second, he felt a sharp pain in his arm and looked to see that he had been shot. A wave of dizziness spread through him and he blacked out. He landed on top of all the shattered glass from the broken display.

Daryl shoved the man against the shelf to his right and then palmed his nose breaking it. He grabbed the man's knife and stabbed him in chest, just as bullets sprayed in his direction. He used the man's body to shield himself from the bullets and pushed himself toward the attacker. The attacker tried to move away, but was shot by Rick before he could take another step.

The last man standing, saw the sudden turn in events and cursed as he ran out of the store as fast as he could. He jumped into his vehicle and sped away, not caring to check the status of the other men he brought.

Daryl saw the man drive away and cursed. He didn't chase him to find out who he was. Rick ran up to his son and saw a puddles of blood by his arm and head. "No," He stammered as he approached him. He slowly turned him over and saw the wounds on his arm and left right eye. "No. No. No. No. No." He saw shards of glass in his wounded eye.

Daryl ran up to him and saw Rick holding his injured son. "Oh shit," He cursed. "Come on we got to take him to the medical place down the street."

Rick looked at him and nodded as the both of them carefully lifted Carl. They slowly made their way back to their car, but stopped abruptly when they saw a number of walkers in front of the store by their vehicles.

"Shit," Daryl said glancing at Rick who was clearly in shock. He looked at the walkers again counting nearly ten of them just by the front itself. There were more across the street. "Shit." He cursed again.


	11. Blindside

TWD: Crimson Tears

Chapter 11: Blindside

Rick was in complete shock and barely saw what Daryl was doing. His vision was slightly blurred and his heart beat so loudly, that he could hear it. He held on to his limp son close to his chest, eyeing the walkers in the front as well as the blood dripping to the floor from both of his son's wounds.

Daryl had his gun in one hand and a machete in the other. He stepped in front of Rick, shooting as many walkers as he could. He kept calling out to him, but Rick was still in shock and everything he heard was muffled. Carl's face and arm was full of blood. He needed help and knew that he couldn't do this alone.

Rick blinked when Daryl shot a walker and blood splattered on their car. He came back to his senses and set Carl on the floor. He glanced at Daryl who nodded at him in acknowledgement and then began shooting walkers. The more they shot, the more that seemed to appear from all sides.

Daryl cursed when he ran out of bullets and tossed his gun aside to use his crossbow. He smashed the closest walker in the head and then turned to the next one. The bloodied walker grabbed his arm tried to bite him. He broke out of his grasp and smashed it in the head so hard that it nearly took it off. The walker fell to the ground, and Daryl stepped on its head to kill it.

Rick shot another walker and then glanced at Carl, who was looking worse. Pools of blood grew larger by his head and arm. He continued to shoot walker after walker to get to the car. He hoped that they could get Carl back to Herschel quickly.

He turned to shoot another one, when he saw two men approach. They had semi-autos in their grasp and shot the walkers in front of Rick and Daryl. Rick looked at them, wondering who they were. Daryl tightened his grip on crossbow and pointed it at the men who easily killed the remaining walkers. Rick turned and stepped in front of Carl to protect him from the possible to new threat.

Daryl stepped in front of Rick and pointed his crossbow at them. The man closest to him raised his hands, showing that he wasn't going to do anything. The other lowered his gun and kept silent. The man in the front took a step toward him.

"My name is Aaron," He said to Daryl calmly. "This is Eric." He glanced at Rick then back at Daryl. "We aren't here for violence."

Rick glanced at Daryl. "Lower your weapons." Daryl said roughly. He didn't trust these men. They could've been part of the men who attacked them moment before.

Eric began to protest when Aaron did just that. He turned toward him and told him to do the same thing. Eric didn't like it, but he tossed his gun aside. He had a gun hidden and would use it if he needed to.

Daryl lowered his crossbow, but held it waist high just in case he needed to use it as well. Rick glanced at Carl again and then Aaron, who just noticed him on the floor. He grew concerned and pointed to him. "I have a camp not too far from here," He said kindly. "There's a good doctor there that can look at the boy." He looked at Rick, trying to show that he can trust him.

Daryl took a step toward Aaron, while Rick had his hand still on his gun. It shook in his blood stained hand. His son's blood. He didn't trust these guys one bit, but the prison was a half a day's drive. Maybe their camp was closer?

Aaron looked at Rick. "The camp I'm from," He said reaching into his backpack slowly. Daryl pointed his crossbow at him. He acknowledged the crossbow pointed at him and pulled out a few photos. "This is my camp. It is safe there. I promise you that."

Rick took a step toward Aaron. "Where is your camp?" He asked him. He took the pictures and looked at them. He then handed it to Daryl who kept his eyes on Aaron and Eric distrustfully.

"Not far from here," Aaron said, "Two-hour drive." He took the pictures from Daryl and replaced them in his backpack. "If your camp is closer, by all means take him there." He paused for a moment. "But if it is farther away. I suggest you bring him to my camp so our doctor can take a look at him."

Rick glanced at Daryl who nodded. "Fine," He said not fully liking the decision. He looked at Aaron "But you ride with me." He turned to pick up Carl as carefully as he could. Carl stirred slightly.

Eric returned to his car, while Aaron went into the driver's seat of the car the Rick drove here. Rick slid into the back seat, holding on to Carl. He applied pressure on to the eye and arm while Aaron took the lead. Eric was right behind them in his car and Daryl last on his motorcycle.

"What happened to him?" Aaron asked looking back at him as he sped back to his camp.

Rick still didn't trust these men, but didn't think that they were part of the guys that attacked him. "We were attacked," He told him. "Don't know who these guys were." He let last statement hang on his tongue.

Aaron caught it right away. "You probably think that I was part of it?" He asked. "Well I am not. Eric and I go out searching to recruit people, to see if they want to join our camp." He looked at Rick. "We are good people from a good group, just looking to survive."

Rick licked his lips and nodded. "Makes sense," He said.

It didn't take long to get to Alexandria. During the drive, Rick made sure that the bleeding was slow. He prayed that he would be okay. Aaron told him all about Alexandria and everyone in it. He told him about the walls and how they needed help to keep it going.

When they got there, Eric ran to get Deanna, while Aaron brought Rick, Daryl, and Carl to the infirmary. Pete was called and quickly began to treat Rick. He didn't know these men, but with the injured kid, he didn't ask any questions.

Deanna arrived a moment later and watched as Pete stabilized Carl to a table. He attached an IV and then began to clean the wounds. Before he even attempted any surgery of any sort, he needed to stop the bleeding and make sure there were antibiotics in his system. He didn't want to have the kid go under while he treated him.

Deanna approached Rick and asked if she could talk to him about what happened. She wanted to make sure that she could trust these guys. Rick began to protest and Daryl told her that he would talk to her, but she insisted. Pete also told them, that there was nothing that they could do and that Carl was in good hands.

As much as he didn't want to, Rick knew that the both of them were correct. There was nothing that he could do at the moment. It looked like Carl was in good hands. All that he could do now was hope that he would be okay. He nodded and followed Deanna out to her office to talk about what happened with Daryl following closely behind.

* * *

Carol silently walked by the side of the road lost in her own thoughts. Abraham and Rosita walked a number of feet beside her, on the far end of the road. Eugene trudged behind them, watching Carol carefully with an anxious look on his face.

She knew that they were watching her as if she'd snap and kill them all, but she didn't care. It didn't really bother her too much. She had killed before and she'd kill again in the future, if it meant that she could live another day in this hellhole. Walkers seemed to be a threat fading away with each passing day.

She thought back to the moment she met Ed and realized how long ago it was. She had changed drastically since she met him. At first he was sweet and helplessly romantic. Not the smartest of the lot. But he was charming and it was for that charm, that she married him.

In the beginning, her marriage was perfect. A dream come true. It was everything that she wanted. He was sweet, caring, and surprised her all the time. But soon, everything changed. He turned sour and neglectful as if he grew sick of the marriage. His abuse worsened with each passing day.

When she gave birth to Sophia, she thought that having her would help change Ed's attitude. But it didn't. Far from it. In fact, it made him worse. He drank more. Smoked even more. At times she felt that she should run away with Sophia, but she always dismissed the idea thinking that it wouldn't do anything. Using the internet, she learned enough medicine to conceal her and her daughter's wounds.

Ed one day threatened her a gunpoint, which he never did before, so she took Sophia to a shelter. She stayed there for nearly two days, before returning to Ed who promised to be different. Of course that didn't last long. A few days after she returned, he fractured her shoulder when he pushed her down the stairs and gave Sophia a bruised eye on the same day.

She then thought that the end of the world would change things, but of course she was kidding herself. He was more abusive and controlling than ever. In fact, he even yelled at her in public, when she wanted to share food with someone who was really needing it. He didn't want to share anything with anyone that wasn't family.

Abraham touched Rosita's shoulder and then approached Carol, who didn't even glance at him. He walked with her for a moment, before he broke the silence. "That was some crazy shit back there," He said to her.

Carol glanced at him briefly. "I did what I had to." She simply told him. She had cleaned off the blood from her face, arms, and hair, but there was still some blood on her clothes.

Abraham spat on the floor and chuckled. "I didn't think you had it in you," He said to her.

Carol gave a small shrug. "Survival of the fittest," She said.

Abraham seemed to like the answer. "Where did you learn to fight like that?" He asked her.

Carol looked at him and drew a breath. "Old friends," She said with a hint of melancholy in her voice.

Abraham not only caught her tone, but he saw it in her eyes. "That's a pity," He said wondering what happened to them. Maybe he'd ask about them later. Now was definitely not the time. "They lost a trooper."

Carol didn't respond to him. She ran a hand through her short hair, trying to ignore the dirt, sweat, and oil. She needed a shower and need one bad. Even now more than ever.

"Regardless of what may or may not have happened," Abraham said, "We are all glad that you are here." He glanced at Eugene briefly, who looked away from them embarrassed. "Even him." He chuckled.

Carol glanced at Abraham briefly. "Do you really believe what he says about the cure?" She asked him. She didn't. Not one bit. There was no cure. The only thing to do, was to survive.

He drew a large breath. "To be brutally honest with you." He shrugged. "I don't fully know. Perhaps there is or perhaps there isn't."

Carol gave him a sudden look. "That isn't much to go on," She said.

Abraham nodded in agreement. He saw a walker in the far distance walking away from them. As of now it posed no threat to them, but if it posed a threat when they grew closer, then he would kill it.

"I know that," He said simply. "But it is something to cling to. We all need hope of some sort."

Carol suddenly thought of everyone in the prison. They were her hope. Her family. One that didn't abuse her. Yell at her. Doing anything to hurt her. They loved her for who she was and not for who she wasn't.

"Yep," She said thinking of the family that she lost. The hope that was taken from her.

* * *

The Governor stood on top of his trailer, watching as everyone in their camp approached. They crowded around the trailer, waiting with anticipation to what he had to say. Everyone had their suspicions about it from the moment Negan left the place and different theories floated around, but they were all mere speculations.

He glanced at Lilly, Meghan, and Tara who were standing to his left, closest to the trailer. He gave them a simple nod, before he cleared his throat getting all of their attention. They stopped conversion amongst themselves and listened in to what he had to say.

"I know that things haven't been easy for us," He began. "In fact it has been hard. I won't lie to you. But we have come through those issues with flying colors so far and I couldn't have been more proud of everyone." He licked his lips. "Now this man, Negan, he comes from a group of people, who do trading with other camps nearby. He mentioned that there was this camp not far from here, that accepts people."

He began to pace back and forth. "He told me that there are steel and sturdy fences surrounding the place stories high. Houses inside where people can live in. Plenty of supplies to go around. This place is exactly what we need to survive. He showed me pictures of the place."

He paused for a moment for them to swallow what he was telling them. "Martinez and I are going to head there now to see what the place is like and if it lives up to all the hype that Negan praised about."

"Are you serious?" Mitch Dolgin asked crossing his arms over his chest. He muscles bulged through his shirt.

"We can't stay here for too much longer," The Governor continued. He licked his dry lips. "This place was only temporary and we all knew it." He gave them a reassuring smile. "Now that there is this new place in the wind. We can't dismiss it."

"How do we know that this Negan character is telling us the truth about the place?" Mitch continued to press on. "Those pictures. They could be pictures of anything."

The Governor understood his caution. "True," He said, "But that is why Martinez and I are going to check out the place."

"And when you are gone?" Mitch continued, "What is going to stop this Negan guy from coming here and ransacking the place?"

The Governor saw people talking amongst themselves, clearly nervous about it. "Listen guys. I know how this sounds." He reassured them. "But look at what we can gain here. If this place is legit and we can move there, then we have a new home. A new safe haven." He paused for a moment. "I know. This could go wrong on so many levels. But it could go right on many more. Martinez and I are going to leave now, to get a good sight on the place. To talk to whoever is in charge. We will be back as quickly as possible."

He climbed down the trailer and gave everyone a reassuring smile. They were as nervous as ever and would be until he came back with the news of the new place. Regardless of what happened, he wanted the best for everyone here. He said his goodbyes to Lilly and Meaghan and then grabbed his supply bag. He grabbed a car with his closest friend and began their long trip to Alexandria.

* * *

Rick sat beside Daryl, trying to ignore the insane nervousness that threatened to overwhelm him. He wanted to be by his side throughout the whole time to make sure he was okay. It wasn't only that he didn't trust these people, but he just didn't want to be kept in the dark.

Deanna sat across from them behind a large oak desk that had a few items scattered on it. There was a World's Greatest Coffee mug to her left and a stack of manila folders next to it. On the other end was a large San Diego snow globe she had gotten on a trip with her husband years ago. Next to that was another mug filled with an assortment of pens.

The office was brightly lit, mainly from the number of windows in the room. There were random frames hanging on the wall, ones that you bought from the store with a picture already in it. A large clock on hung on the wall, that read three in the afternoon. Behind the desk was a video camera on a stand.

"I first want to begin," Deanna said gently, "By saying how sorry I am about your son. But he is in good hands here. Pete is an amazing surgeon."

Rick drew a helpless breath. "Thanks," He said with a nod.

Deanna leaned forward and rested her arms on the desk. "Do you mind if I ask what happened here?"

Rick scratched at his beard. "We were attacked by some people while on a supply run," He began. "My son was injured in the crossfire."

Deanna gave him an apologetic look. "Do you often take your son out on supply runs?" Personally she thought he was far too young.

Rick narrowed his eyes at her, not liking the question. She didn't know them or what they had been through. From the look of the walls around the place, it seemed as if they had been there for quite some time. He wondered how much of the outside world, they had actually seen. That they had actually been through. He suspected very little.

"He's a tough kid," Daryl said about Carl. "Been through a lot. Knows how to take care of himself."

Deanna wasn't satisfied by then answer, but didn't press on any further. She shifted in her spot, studying both of them. Rick had a partially civilized look to him, with a hint of horror in his eyes. Eyes that had seen far more than anyone here has seen. He was as damaged as one could be with the state of the world around them.

Daryl on the other hand was as redneck as they came. She could see it clearly, just by the way he walked and talked. He had itchy trigger fingers and was constantly on edge. Whether he was like that his entire life, or grew like this because of the zombies. She didn't know.

"While we wait," Deanna began, "Perhaps I should give you a brief history about this place." She paused for a moment. "I don't know what Aaron told you, so I will give you a small history about it anyways. Before the apocalypse, this place was supposed to be an upscale community. You know the suburban hallmark bullshit." She chuckled dryly. "After the end of the old world the local congresswoman, which was me, created a safe-zone for the military."

She ran a hand through her hair. "In the beginning of the outbreak, we made sure to have a handful of supplies for a large group of people. We used those supplies for our survival, including construction materials from a shopping mall nearby. We used items from there to build the wall around the place."

She drew a breath, eyeing both of their interest in her story. "Well over time, new survivors joined the us. We all saw promise as a community in the rebirth of civilization in Alexandria. My husband was the guy in charge in building the walls." She looked at her hands briefly. "These are not the hands for such work. These are the hands of a politician."

"Wow," Rick said amazed at what she just told them.

"Yeah," She said proudly. "It hasn't been easy. But all that hard work has panned out beautifully." She glanced at Daryl for a moment. "So what's your story?"

Rick shifted in his spot and ran a hand through his hair. "I have a small group not too far from here," He said. "You know the prison off the interstate?"

"Yeah I do," She said.

"Well that is where my group lives," Rick continued, "We are from different areas and grouped together over the years. Traveled together in search for a safe camp and it took a few tries, but we found a great place."

"That's really good," She said smiling. "It's the most important thing to have these days. I don't know what I'd do if things didn't work out here." She shrugged. "I just count my blessings."

"Yep," Rick agreed with her.

She paused for a moment. "Well I think we are done here." She stood up. "I just wanted to get some simple formalities done. If you guys are hungry. Thirsty. Want a shower. You are more than welcome." She pondered the thought. "In fact, how does a tour sound?"

Rick was about to answer, when there was a knock on the door. Pete entered and glanced at Rick and Daryl briefly. Rick and Daryl stood up, waiting anxiously for an answer.

"He is one tough kid," Pete said, "He will pull through. The gunshot wound to his arm was a superficial one. Stitched it up fine. His eye on the other hand." He paused and looked at Rick who suddenly tensed up. "Unfortunately there was damage to the nerve from the glass. He won't be able to see out of it again. I'm sorry man." He felt his pain. He didn't wish this upon his kids.

"Shit," Daryl said glancing at Rich who was in shock.

"Can I see him?" He asked.

Pete nodded. "He resting now," He said, "But by all means. You guys know where the infirmary is." He stepped aside and watched Rick run out without another word. Daryl thanked both of them and then quickly followed him.

Pete waited until they were gone, before he gave her a harsh look that warned her that these guys shouldn't be trusted and that they were bad news. She brushed it off and watched him leave, knowing it was his attitude that needed to be watched out for. Not these guys who she already spoke to and got a feeling that they wouldn't do anything to harm anyone here.

* * *

The Governor looked at the map that Negan gave him and tried figure out exactly how much longer their trip would be. They were a quarter of the way through so far. He wanted to get there and back as quickly as possible. Leaving behind everyone always made him feel uncomfortable, especially leaving Lilly and Meghan behind.

He folded up the map and then glanced at Martinez who just lit a cigarette. He offered one to him, but he declined. "More for me esse," Martinez said with a small shrug.

"Give me some Jameson," The Governor said with a small chuckle, "And you got me."

Martinez looked at him and laughed. "You sound like a cheap whore," He said to him. He was the only one who could talk to him that way. Anyone else, would have gotten a hefty beating.

The Governor laughed along with him. "Cheap yes," He said as if pondering the thought. "Whore. Only on the weekends."

Martinez took a drag on his cigarette. "Jesus." He shook his head. "Do you really think that this will work out?"

The Governor shifted in his spot. "I think it will," He said not fully believing himself.

Martinez heard the doubt in his tone. He looked at him for a moment and was at that moment, that someone suddenly darted in front of their car. He cursed and swerved around the person, as to not him. He parked by the side of the road and then glanced into the thick woods, to see a man running away from them full speed.

"Should we follow?" Martinez asked not looking away from him.

The Governor had a small scowl on his face and nodded. Both of them stepped out of the car and followed the man to a small wooden cabin, hidden in the woods. It was about a half a mile from the road. When they got there, the man had already locked himself inside.

The cabin was quite small. Single story, one bedroom with a single chimney on the roof. Two stairs, led to a tiny and rickety porch that looked as if it were going to fall apart any moment. Dried out potted plants were displayed on window sills which were covered in thick dust and cobwebs.

The Governor cautiously opened the door and was about to enter, when a strong and pungent smell filled the air. He made a face, ignoring the stench and glanced at Martinez who nodded that he was ready. He doubted that this man posed a threat, but with recent events, he just wanted to make sure.

He stepped inside the house and cursed. What he saw, looked like it came out of an Eli Roth horror film. Walkers were hanging upside down from the ceiling by their ankles. He counted ten total. All of them were growling loudly and the ones closer to them, reached out, trying to get to him. Blood and black ooze

Martinez held his gun tightly and cursed. He wanted to fire, but knew it would be a bad decision. It would not only scare the man away, but also bring more walkers. He lowered at his gun a bit and then motioned that they should use the back door.

The Governor nodded and the both of them walked around the cabin to the back door. He counted to three and then quietly opened it to reveal the kitchen. Pots, pans, moldy food and drinks, and garbage were everywhere. Maggots, ants, and beetles crawled everywhere and there were a large number of flies fluttering around. It stank, but not nearly as bad as the living room full of walkers.

Movement was heard in the back of the kitchen, behind a closed door. The Governor approached the door and opened it carefully. Martinez watched his back the whole time. Inside the messy bedroom, was a man probably in his early sixties huddled behind the bed, terrified. He had a large and bushy grey beard, wild hair, and pants that were far too big on him. His pants were being held up by rope and he was wearing no shirt.

He waved around a rusty machete in his hand, screaming at them in Arabic. He smelled as well, probably hadn't showered in who knows how long. The smell was nothing compared to anything else in the house, but was still pretty bad.

"We should go," Martinez said knowing that this guy was probably harmless.

The Governor eyed the man for a moment and then nodded. He started to turn away from him, when the man threw something at him. It struck the back of his head. With a scowl on his face, he shot the man in the head, spraying his blood and brain matter on the wall behind him.

The Governor turned back to Martinez. "Now we can go." He told him. He stepped past him and walked out of the back of the house.

Martinez glanced at the dead man on the bed. "Shit," he cursed. "Shit." He turned and then exited the house through the back door.


	12. Of Blood and Tears

TWD: Crimson Tears

Chapter 12: Of Blood and Tears

Rick sat beside his son, eyes mopped with tears, and heart pounding nervously in his chest. His son, laid in the bed, hooked up to an IV and a heart monitor. There was a thick gauze pad on his arm wound and an even thicker one on his eye. His entire face was bandaged as to not put strain on his other eye. He was fast asleep from all the heavy pain meds and antibiotics that were going through his system.

Rick took his hand and squeeze it affectionately. He kissed it and shook his head. "Oh Carl," He said tearfully. "I'm sorry. I'm so terribly sorry." He drew a breath. "Sorry for everything that you have to go through with every day. I wish it could be different you know."

He kissed his hand again and then held it in both of his. "From you thinking that I was dead after I was shot on the job and then having to constantly worry about me when I went on supply runs. To us having to search for new places to live, to you getting shot, and then to mom's death." He paused for a moment. "You have been through more than anyone has ever had to go through."

He shook his head. "I don't know." His lower lip trembled. "I wish it could be different. I wish you could have a normal childhood. Not this. Never this." He reached out and brushed aside his son's bangs. "But you are a trooper. You will pull through this. I have faith in you. You will pull through this." He paused again. "Because I need you by my side."

He thought back to when he was shot the first time, right before he met Herschel. The horror from the near death experience, was something that still weighed in his mind. Every now and then, he'd have a nightmare of the whole thing reoccurring again. Except this time, Carl died in his arms. He remembered those nightmares clearly as if they happened in real life.

"I remember once when you were young. You must have been 3 or 4." He began with a faraway look. "I finished a long shift and while mom was cooking dinner. Can't remember what it was, but it smelled amazing. I went searching for you and found you in your room pretending to hide. You had on the deputy costume that I got you for Halloween and you wanted to play cops and robbers." He smiled sadly. "So we played until dinner. Right before dinner, you told me that you wanted be a police officer. I was so proud."

He wiped the tears from his eyes with the back of his hands. "I don't know what I'd do if I lost you," He said tearfully. "So no more of this." He took his son's hands again and squeezed them affectionately.

XXXXXXX

In the cafeteria, Daryl watched as Deanna handed him a bowl of chopped vegetables. He took the bowl from her and thanked it. He sniffed the food and then began to eat. He wasn't much of a vegetable fan. It made him feel like a rabbit. He wanted to eat the rabbit. Not eat what the rabbit eats. But he couldn't tell Deanna that.

Deanna gave him a small smile and motioned for him to join her at one of the tables. He sat down and looked at her. "You know," She said with a small smile. "You seem like a person who prefers red meat over that."

Daryl chuckled as he chewed on a pepper. It was somewhat bitter tasting, but he was hungry. "Yeah," He said.

She leaned forward in her spot a bit. "So would I," She told him.

Daryl chuckled again. "This place," He said glancing toward the front door. "I'm impressed. Haven't seen one like it before."

Deanna smiled. "Thanks," She beamed. She saw her husband walking past the cafeteria. She needed to talk to him about supplies. "Listen I have to go. You are more than welcome to continue the tour on your own." She stood up and gave him a brief nod.

Daryl nodded back at her and then watched her leave. He sat there in silence and finished the vegetables. When he was done, he threw out the bowl and then refilled his water. He stepped out of the cafeteria and then went to check on Rick.

He found Rick sitting beside his son, looking like an emotional wreck. He handed him his water. "Here," He said. "It aint alcohol, but it'll quench the thirst."

Rick looked at him and took the bottle. "Thanks," He said with a hefty sigh.

"How is he?" He asked. He looked at him, noticing the bandages on his eye and arm. He looked worn out.

Rick looked at his son for a moment. "He's going to pull though," He said to him.

Daryl nodded. "Well he is a tough son of a bitch." He crossed his arms over his chest. "So what's next?"

Rick looked at him. "Well I am going to stay here with Carl until he is well enough to move around." He cleared his throat. "You can stay if you want or return to the prison. It's up to you."

Daryl looked at Carl again and then back at him. "I am going to stay here," He said knowing that Rick would most likely need him. He patted him on the back and then left the infirmary to continue the tour.

He walked around the camp, meeting all different types of people. Most of them were extremely weary of him and he understood why. It was more than just the fact that he was a new face. An outsider. Everyone here was so clean and quiet mannered. He on the other hand, smelled awful and he knew it. He showered the day before, but it didn't help with him spending the whole day outside.

He saw a young girl, possibly around Carl's age, sitting on the rooftop of one of the houses reading a comic book. She saw him watching her and gave him the finger. He chuckled and then shook his head. He turned away from her and walked away.

He saw a woman in her open garage, building a steel sculpture of a large owl. She looked up from her work and smiled at him. He stood there for a moment, watching her, before he approached her. He was curious about her.

"Hey," He said to her.

She looked at him, shielding her eyes with her hand from the sun. "Hey," She said to him.

He nodded his head at the nearly finished owl. "That's interesting," He said.

She turned away from the sun and gave him a brief smile. "Thanks," She said, "Interesting is definitely one way to call it." She put out her hand. "Jessie."

He shook her hand. "Daryl."

"Pleasure," She said. "So I heard what happened. How is he?"

Daryl took a few steps away from her. "Been better," He simply responded.

Jessie nodded and brushed aside her bangs. "What happened to him?" She asked.

Daryl crossed his arms over his chest. "We were attacked on a supply run," He said.

He wondered who they were and if they had anything to do with the previous attack. He wasn't able to get a close enough look at them, with all the walkers that suddenly appeared.

Jessie cursed under her breath. "Well I'm glad that he's okay," She said.

"Yeah," Daryl simply responded.

He heard the garage door open and saw the man who did Carl's surgery step into the garage with a beer in his hand. He looked at Daryl and then Jessie with a slightly drunken look in his eyes.

"Hey," He said to Daryl. He gave him a warning and domineering look.

Daryl caught his reaction and knew exactly what the man was doing. "Hey," He simply responded.

"Is this man bothering you Jessie?" Pete asked, keeping his eyes locked on Daryl.

Jessie shook her head. "No," She said, "We are just talking."

Pete stepped up to him, standing a few inches taller than him. He narrowed his eyes as he took another drink of beer. He licked his lips and took another drink. Jessie stood by her husband, hoping and praying that he wouldn't make a scene.

Daryl turned toward him and held back every urge to shove him aside. "We were just talking man," He said to him.

Pete took a step toward him, trying to tower over him. "Well discussion is over." He took another drink of beer.

Daryl had seen many guys like this before. He was used to it and it didn't faze him. In fact, his brother was a perfect example. From as early as he could remember, his brother controlled him. He may have been roughed him up in the process, but it was out of brotherly love. He wanted to toughen him up.

Daryl gave him a hardened look and then turned away from him. He heard Pete snicker and had to resist the urge to hit him. He knew he could take him down. Pete was bigger than him, but he doubted that he had the street knowledge that he had. Yet, he knew that it would do no good. The moment that Carl was better, they'd leave this place, and not return.

XXXXXXX

Deanna and Reg were sitting on the front porch of their house, sipping on water and discussing what everyone else was discussing. The visitors. The weather was hot and sticky, but without air condition, the house was just as bad as it was inside.

Reg was staring into the distance, not really paying attention to anything. "How's the boy," He asked as he sipped on his water.

Deanna looked at him. "He's going to pull through," She said. "It was a close call though."

He looked at her. "And these guys," He said, "Especially the wild looking one."

Deanna laughed. "Both of them are certainly interesting characters," She said. "Especially the wild looking one." She took a sip of water. "But after talking with them, I think I got a pretty good read on them."

Reg looked at her. "Yeah?"

Deanna drew a breath. "Not everyone is lucky to have what we have here," She began. She touched his knee and looked into his eyes. "We are blessed to have so many things here that keep us alive, while the state of the rest of the world dwindles." She paused for a moment. "Rick told me about what he went through out there and all I can say, it is very colorful."

Reg shook his head. "Do you trust them?" He asked her. "I mean to be around everyone here."

"I trust them enough," She said with a small shrug. "These aren't bad people hun. These are people that have been through so much shit that it bleeds right off them. One look at them and you can see that."

Reg nodded. "Yeah I saw that," He said. "Especially from Rick and adding to his kid's near death experience doesn't help the case." He shook his head. "I can't begin to understand what he's going through."

Deanna ran a hand through her hair. "Yeah," She agreed.

"The people that attacked him," He asked her. "Did either of them give a good description on the attackers?"

She shook her head. "Everything happened so fast," She answered, "That they didn't really get a good look at them."

Reg nodded and gave her an anxious look. "I just don't want any violence to come here," He said.

Deanna took his hand and gave it a gentle squeeze. "I feel the same way babe," She said.

XXXXXXX

The Governor took a sip of water and glanced at Martinez who had his eyes on the road. There was a toothpick in his mouth and he was humming to the Spanish song that was playing on the CD player. He didn't understand much Spanish, so he had no idea what the song was about.

He shifted in his spot and closed his eyes. He was tired from a restless night of sleep and with since they still had a good portion of their drive still to go, he decided to close his eyes for a bit. This was the perfect time to take a nap. As he drifted off to sleep, he thought back to his meeting with Negan.

 _When Negan was ready to talk alone with him, he took him to his trailer to discuss everything. He opened the door and motioned for Negan to step inside first. Negan gave him a small enthusiastic look and the stepped inside. The Governor followed shortly after._

 _"Can I get you anything?" The Governor asked him._

 _Negan looked around the small trailer. There were two beds, a small kitchen area, bathroom, and a shower in the back. A small bench was across from the cabinets that were lined against the wall. He sat down and ran a finger along the clean, yet slightly greasy table._

 _He looked at the Governor and smiled. "No thanks," He said politely. He watched the Governor take a seat across from him. "Nice little camp you have here." He emphasized on the word little._

 _The Governor caught his tone. "Thanks," He said ignoring his attitude._

 _"Okay back to business," Negan said drumming his fingers on the table. "Now I don't know how much traveling you have done since the outbreak has begun, but it can't be really too much."_

 _The Governor leaned back in his chair. "I actually have traveled a lot." He half boasted. "Not only from trying to get supplies and making sure my people are safe, but when Woodbury fell, I kind of went on a bend. I went on the run and just needed time."_

 _Negan nodded as he told him what happened with the fall of Woodbury. As he spoke, he thought about what he thought of the guy. He could easily tell that the Governor was a cunning, cruel, savage, brutal and highly intelligent man. A man who was determined not only to be a survivor, but to be a strong leader as well._

 _He knew nothing of the man, outside of what he learned from having spied on him. Yet, he could tell that this guy had been through something real serious. It had scarred him and used it to fuel himself to try and gain an advantage._

 _"It makes sense," Negan frowned. "So what do you want?"_

 _The Governor tilted his head slightly and gave him a confused look. "What?"_

 _"Let me rephrase that." Negan shifted in his spot. "I know that you are the type of person that is meant to lead. There are people out there, that are just plainly meant to lead."_

 _The Governor nodded his head in agreement. "And what about you?" He asked. "Where do you fall in that?" This guy sure like to talk._

 _Negan chuckled. "The same as you," He said, "But at first, I didn't want to lead. Yet, I saw that the position was needed. Soon, I came up with a plan to survive_ _and when that plan came to be, before I knew I it, I had a large following."_

 _The Governor frowned. "How large of a group are you talking about?" He didn't trust this man one bit and was curious to see if he'd answer him. He didn't think he would._

 _Negan chuckled and shook his head with a playful smile. "Let's just say it's a large group," He answered._

 _The Governor was not surprised that he didn't get an answer. Negan liked to play games. He liked to twist around words and show that he was the smartest in the block. Before the outbreak, he would have made a great politician. Or a lawyer._

 _"Okay then," He asked him, "And this plan, what is that exactly?"_

 _Negan continued to smile at him. "Let's just say," He began, "That there are many more groups out there and that possess things that interest me." He removed a map from his pocket and placed it on the table. "I trade with them." He pushed the map to him._

 _The Governor didn't think that this man was the trading type. He seemed to be the type of person that controlled others. Plays the nice friend card and then flips it over when he wants something from you. He then takes it, regardless of the price. Regardless of the consequences._

 _He opened the map and looked at it. He saw a large X on part of it. "I am guessing that this place," He tapped the X. "Is Alexandria?"_

 _"Yep," Negan answered simply._

 _"And this place?" The Governor continued, "Do you trade with them?"_

 _Negan shook his head. "Not yet." He licked his lips. "But I intend to."_

 _The Governor nodded. "I see," He said, "And why do you want my group to go there?"_

 _Negan rapped his finger on the table. "I'm merely suggesting that this place can be a perfect fit for your group," He said to him. "Shit. You can stay here for all I care." He paused for a moment and leaned forward in his seat. "But how long do you expect to stay here safely? There are many more dangers out there other than walkers." He hinted to him about his group and what he did to survive._

 _"I know that," The Governor said. He didn't want to get more involved with this guy, but he knew he was already in it far enough. Just with the group he brought here now, he could easily wipe him out._

 _Negan caught the look in his eyes. "It seems as if you already have seen the devil before?"_

 _The Governor thought of Rick and his smug, saint-like look that irked him so. He nodded. "Saw him," He said grimly. He really couldn't wait to pound his face in. Wanted to feel his hands around his throat and his life slowly draining away._

 _Negan drummed his fingers on the table again. "I guess the devil is the one who gave you that?" He pointed to his eyepatch._

 _The Governor nodded. "One of the many devils," He said with a grisly look._

 _Negan grew serious. "Now if you could wipe out every single one of those devils," He said dangerously. "I bet you would without batting an eye." He saw that he was agreeing with him. "Going to Alexandria, will give you just that."_

 _The Governor gave him an unsure look. "Will it?"_

 _Negan nodded. "Yes," He said excitement flashing in his eyes. "You go there and show that your group can be an asset to them, then you will have a better chance to go and take out the devil."_

The Governor groaned and woke up from his short nap. He rubbed his sore neck, from sleeping in an awkward position. He looked at Martinez who was still chewing on his toothpick and playing Spanish music of some sort.

"How long was I out?" He asked him.

Martinez glanced at him. "I don't know." He shrugged. "An hour or so."

The Governor continued to rub his neck. "Good," He said as he thought about Negan's last words about killing the devil. He couldn't wait to do it.

XXXXXXX

Rick was half asleep, when he heard a soft knock on the door. He opened his eyes and looked at the door as Deanna entered. She gave him a kind smile and then looked at Carl, who was still fast asleep. His eye and arm had fresh bandages and the IV was removed now that he was out of danger.

"How is he?" She asked him as she closed the door gently behind her. She pulled up a chair beside Rick.

Rick cleared his throat and nodded. "He's going to make it," He said feeling relieved. "Been asleep ever since the surgery."

Deanna shot a glance at Carl. "I'm glad to hear," She responded.

Rick looked at her. "Do you have any children?" He asked her.

"Two boys," She answered. "Aiden and Spencer." She smiled proudly. "Besides Carl, do you have any more?"

Rick shook his head. "Yeah," He said with a fatherly smile. "A daughter named Judith. She's almost a year old."

Deanna was surprised. "She was born during the outbreak," She frowned. "Haven't heard of any babies born during this shit storm." Her eyes widened for a moment. "Bet it doesn't make it easy then."

Rick chuckled bitterly thinking of the near death experiences he had over the years. Having a child that young, definitely made it harder. Yet, he didn't know what he would do without her. She was everything to him. When he looked at her. Held her. Played with her. Spent time with her. It made all the hell in the world not seem as bad.

"No it doesn't," He shook his head. "But I couldn't see a day without her or Carl." He glanced at his son, wishing that he'd wake up and that they could return to the prison.

"I know the feeling," She agreed with him. "As hard as it is having kids, I couldn't see a day without my boys. They are a handful sometimes, but they are everything to me."

Rick nodded. "Thank you for this," He said to her.

Deanna shot a look at Carl. "You're welcome," She said.

"For real," He continued. "You don't know us, yet you open your doors for us. You could have turned us away from the way beginning." He wasn't sure why he was telling her this, other than the fact it felt good to talk.

"Even if your son wasn't hurt," She began, "I wouldn't have turned you away."

Rick was touched. He gave her an emotional look. "There aren't too many people out here these days that would open their doors so freely," He said to her.

He thought of Woodbury and everything that went down there. He thought of the Governor and his arrogant look. A big part of him wished he could have wiped that smirk off his face, but he had no idea if he was still alive.

"It seems to me that you have met some pretty awful people out there," She said to him.

Rick nodded. "To say the least," He simply said.

Deanna saw his faraway look and caught his tone. She drew a breath and stood up. She replaced her chair and then patted him on the back. "I have to run," She said to him. "But if you need anything, just let me know." She stood there for a moment and then left the infirmary.

XXXXXXX

Negan sat in the back of the SUV with his eyes closed and a cigar in his mouth. He was listening to a Latin mix that he created before the outbreak. It was only instrumental, but the music was quite calming. He always listened to it, right before he met with a group.

It first began with Paula talking to the group, to see if everything they had arranged went smoothly. If yes, then he would stay in the SUV out of sight, but if there was an issue, he would make an appearance. When he made that appearance, it was then when things usually got messy.

He glanced at Lucille, who laid on the seat beside him. She had been properly cleaned from the last time he used her. When he left Terminus, brain matter and blood was all over it. As he cleaned off the brain and blood, he thought about how good it fell to smash in the guy's head.

He wasn't sure what he enjoyed more. The feel of Lucille in his hands as he smashed the victim's head in or the fear in everyone's else eyes as he did that. He liked to feel in charge. No. He needed to be in charge and to do so, he had to make sure everyone around him feared him. The more they feared him, the more it fueled him.

He heard a knock on the window and saw Michelle standing out there with a cigarette in her mouth. He rolled down the window and asked, "Gone south?"

Michelle took a drag. "South and even more south."

Negan nodded and put out the cigar. He then grabbed Lucille. "Okay baby," He said to his best mate. "Time for us to hit a homerun."

He walked into the camp, known as the Hilltop, and approached the group of his group and then group. His group, around six of them, were holding assault rifles ready if there was any violence. The Hilltop crew, included everyone and all their guns were on the ground before them.

He approached Paula and nodded at her as she stepped aside. "A little birdy tells me that you guys don't have what was promised," He said in a fake cheerful manner. "That is not cool. Not cool at all." One of Someone began to speak up, but stopped abruptly when Negan looked at him roughly.

Negan wagged a scolding finger at him. "You see how this works," He continued his rant. "I give you protection from the outside and you trade that in for supplies. I thought we had an agreement here." He began to pace in front of them. "I have always held up my end. You guys." He pointed Lucille at each and every one of them in a threatening manner. "Well if this was a first offense, I would be lenient, but lately you guys have been striking out." He chuckled at his baseball joke.

"It isn't easy and you know it," One of the men defended their group.

Negan looked at him and swiftly approached him. He grabbed him by the shoulders and kneed him the stomach. "Jesus. Jesus. Jesus." He sang loudly. "Though shall know when to keepth their mouth shut. Can I hear an amen brothers and sisters!" He turned away from him and saw a young male, probably around sixteen help Jesus up to his feet. "Come here son."

The boy glanced at Jesus fearfully. "That isn't an option," He ordered.

The boy gulped and approached him. Negan put an arm around him and squeezed him playfully. "I haven't seen you before son," He asked. "You are usually in hiding when I come to visit?"

"Yes," The boy weakly said.

Negan nodded. "Well I am Negan," He said. "I know you have heard about me and everything that you heard, is true." He paused for a moment eyeing the fear in the eyes of everyone that lived here. "You must think I am an evil man?" He asked playfully. He ruffled the boy's hair and then stepped away from him. The boy began to move. "I didn't tell you that you can move." He snapped as the boy and half of the residents jumped.

"Sorry," The boy stammered.

Negan smiled at him. "No harm done," He said with a friendly smile. "I like to get my way and when I don't, well you know what happens." He saw a couple who were standing behind Jesus, both of them emotionally distraught at the sight of their son beside him. They were hoping that nothing would happen to their son.

"So how are we going to fix this?" Negan asked serious manner. "Because this will not do."

Jesus took a step forward, ignoring the looks from everyone, especially their leader. "If you give us a few more days," He suggested. "We will get you the rest."

Negan gave him a playful look. "You know I don't really find that reassuring," He said looking Jesus dead in the eyes. "Empty promises." He paused for a moment. "Wow you have such stunning eyes. It would be a shame for me to carve them out and then shove it down your throat." He chuckled as if he told his own joke.

Jesus wasn't fazed by his threat. He continued to stare him down, showing that he wouldn't fold under his pressure. He wouldn't let his threats get to him. If he let him get to him, then all would be lost. Negan would go on a killing spree and would worsen the situation.

"So there are two ways I can do this," Negan continued, "We can do it the somewhat civilized way and take half of your supplies or we can do it my way." He narrowed his eyes at Jesus especially. "And we all know how that will turn out."

No one responded. Negan paced in front of the group pointing Lucille at random people in the group. Most stood there silently, lost in their horror, but there was the occasional, who gasped as if they'd get struck by his bat.

"Well now," He frowned, "I guess we do it my way."

As he walked passed the boy, he threw an elbow in his face breaking his nose. The boy cried out in pain and reached up toward his nose, catching the blood. His parents cried out and had to be held back by other members.

Negan swung Lucille connecting with the boy's head with a gruesome crunch. His parents wailed as their son fell to his knees with blood streaming down his face. His vision blurred and grew dark. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was Negan's boots beside him and his parent's hysterical crying.

Negan raised Lucille and continued to wail on him until he was out of breath. He stopped and stood up straight, feeling a bit sore. He looked at the flattened boy in front of him, feeling no remorse. In fact, he wanted to continue to use Lucille in batting practice. He turned back toward the group and glanced at the parents, who were on the ground sobbing in each other's arms.

"Okay peoples. Now we take half of your things." He looked at the blood on his leather coat and shook his head. "Shit," He swore grimly, "This was my favorite coat." He groaned and walked back to his SUV, while the rest of his crew went to take half of their supplies.


	13. Devil's Kiss

TWD: Crimson Tears

Chapter 13: Devil's Kiss

Rick was fast asleep beside the bed, dreaming of simpler times, before the outbreak. He was working up to eighty-hour work weeks, which was causing a small friction in his marriage. In his eyes, he wanted to make as much money as possible to be able to support his family. He wanted to have the ability to get them whatever they wanted.

His wife didn't think that way. She thought that he was working so many hours, to avoid the problems she felt were occurring at home. She also sometimes thought that he often enjoyed spending time with Shane, then with her.

He felt a stir beside him, which caused him to wake with a jolt. He saw that Carl was awake. He cleared his throat and took his son's hand. "Carl," He asked gently, "How are you feeling?"

Carl licked his parched lips and turned to face his father. He couldn't see him through the bandages that covered both his eyes. "Thirsty," He said dryly.

Rick reached for his water and helped his son drink from it. Carl coughed a bit as water trailed down his cheek. "How bad is it?" He asked his father in a quiet tone.

Rick wasn't sure what to answer. Should he tell him the truth about his eye and that he lost it? That he would never be able to see out of it? How would that affect his healing process? Perhaps he should tell him that he'd be okay and that he'd tell him the truth one they left this camp? Carl was smart and would know that his father wasn't telling him the truth.

"What is the last thing you remember?" Rick asked as he took a sip of water. He placed the bottle on the chair beside him.

Carl drew a breath as he reached gingerly toward the bandage that covered half of his face. He trailed a finger over it and then touched the bandage on his arm. "I remember us getting attacked while clothing shopping," He said slowly. "Daryl."

Rick softly touched his son's shoulder. "He's okay," He told him. He wondered where he was at the moment.

"So how bad is it Dad?" Carl asked again. He didn't feel any pain, but there was still pain medication running through his system.

Rick ran a hand through his hair. "Carl," He said gently. "You hurt your eye pretty badly." He paused for a moment, not wanting to say the next words. He knew that Carl wouldn't want to hear it either, but he didn't want to lie to him. He wasn't a child anymore.

"I won't be able to see out of it?" Carl asked him.

As terrible as he felt for him, he was relieved that he didn't have to tell him about the extent of his injury. "Yeah," He simply said. He wasn't sure what else to tell him.

Carl stifled a yawn. The medicine was making him quite drowsy. "Damn," He cursed without thinking. He reached up and touched the bandage over his eyes again. "Where are we?"

Rick shifted in his spot. "A place called Alexandria," He said thankful that everyone here was so helpful.

At that moment, the infirmary door opened and in walked Pete. He nodded toward Rick and then approached Carl, who turned to face him. "How are you feeling little man?" He asked him. He put on a pair of gloves.

"Woozy," Carl said.

"Well that makes perfect sense," He said as he stood beside the bed. "You have antibiotics as well as morphine running through your body." He touched his shoulder. "I am going to remove both of the bandages and then put on some fresh ones."

"Can I get a lollipop when you are done?" Carl asked.

Pete gave him a strange look and then looked at Rick, who chuckled. "Too bad I don't have any," He said, helping him get to a sitting position.

He carefully began to unwrap the bandage and then tossed it waste basket. He grabbed some antiseptic and wiped around the eye. There was a small amount of redness around the stitched eye and the swelling had gone down overnight. He then grabbed some gauze and bandaged the injured eye only. He then changed the bandage on his arm as well.

When he was done, he threw out the gloves and then cleaned his hands. "Well kid, best you rest up," He turned toward Rick and then nodded at him as he left the infirmary.

Rick stood up and followed him out. "Hey Pete," He called out to him.

Pete stopped walking and turned around. "What can I do for you Rick?" He asked narrowing his eyes.

Rick stepped up to him. "Little too early to be hitting the bottle?" He asked him.

Pete's jaw quivered slightly not liking the sudden confrontation. "I don't know what you are talking about," He said. He didn't like the look in his eyes.

Rick narrowed his eyes as well. He wasn't intimidated by him one bit. "Don't play coy with me," He said in a low, yet harsh tone. "I can smell the alcohol on you."

Anger flashed in his eyes and he made a fist, wanting to hit him. Instead, he let the anger subside and a small smile appeared on his face. "Don't worry about it Rick," Pete said almost mockingly. "Your kid will be able to leave by the end of the day."

Rick was about to respond, but instead, he just watched him turn around and walk away chuckling to himself. He drew a breath and then sat down on the balcony in front of the infirmary. He closed his eyes for a moment, allowing the anger from his encounter to subside.

He heard familiar footsteps approach. "Rick," Daryl said.

Rick opened his eyes. "Good morning," He said feeling relieved that it wasn't Pete. He was not in the mood for a confrontation.

"How's the little rascal?" Daryl asked as he took a seat beside Rick.

Rick chuckled at the name. "He's good," He said happily. "Probably sleeping now." He paused for a moment. "You showered?"

Daryl drew a small laugh. "Yeah," He said, "Spent the night with," He paused for a moment. "Shit. Can't remember her name." He shook his head. "All she had was girl soap and now I smell like something you'd wanna use as target practice."

Rick gave him a confused look, not sure what he was talking about.

"A man smelling like flowers," Daryl said with his usual annoyed amusement. "Where I'm from, you'd get your ass kicked."

Rick laughed. "I see," He simply said.

"A'right," He said, "I'm gnna get me some breakfast and hope I don't bump into what's her name." He stood up. "I'll be damned if she wants to talk or something." He chuckled. "If she wants seconds, then that's a different story."

Rick chuckled and then watched Daryl walk toward the cafeteria to get some food. He saw a few other people from the camp walking in the same direction. They carried the same cautious attitude toward them as they did yesterday. He groaned and stood up. He was going to check on Carl and then grab some breakfast.

* * *

Maggie wiped the sweat off her brow with the back of her hand as she approached the fence. It was still morning, barely past breakfast and yet the temperature seemed stifling hot. She wondered how much hotter it would get. It was quite humid and she hoped it would rain soon. It had been a few weeks since it had rained.

She cursed in annoyance, when she saw there were already a number of walkers leaning against the fence and trying to break through. The fence was buckling in a few parts, but with the new pieces of wood that were added the other day, it seemed to be holding it up.

"There seems to be an endless amount of them," Beth said to her sister.

Maggie knew she was talking about the walkers. "Yeah," She agreed.

Beth reached for her knife and stabbed the one closest to her. "It's like a usual morning routine," She said eyeing a few more walking aimlessly by the trees. "Who needs coffee these days?"

Maggie looked at her and chuckled. "Hell," She said, "I miss coffee." She paused for a moment. "Mom's coffee."

Beth smiled at her. "Yeah," She agreed. "She did make great coffee."

Maggie stabbed a walker and then moved to the next one. "I don't know how she did it," She said, "Or what she put in it, but that stuff was heaven on earth."

Beth watched Michonne approach from the prison. She had a stern, yet faraway look as if her mind were miles away. She wondered what she was thinking about. From the little she knew about her, she could easily tell that she was an introvert. Or that she had spent so much time on her own, with her own thoughts, that she was used to being alone.

She wished them a good morning and then left the compound to kill the walkers in the front. They would then pile up all the bodies and then burn them. It was grueling work and the smell was awful, but it had to be done.

Maggie looked at her sister. "So I've seen that you and Carl have been getting kind of friendly," She said to her.

Beth stabbed a walker and then moved to the next one. "You noticed," She said without thinking.

Maggie gave her a look. "Of course I have," She said.

"Well we are just friends," She said before her sister could say anything. She didn't want to tell her how she really felt about him.

She hadn't had feelings for anyone since Jimmy. Losing him along with others in her family to the walkers at the farm, was one of the worst things she had to go through. After his death, she didn't think that she'd find someone else that she would be attracted to. It was the end of the world and there wasn't anyone to really choose from.

There was Carl, but she didn't look at him that way. Rick was the leader and Carl was his son. It didn't seem appropriate. Plus, there was Lori who was overly protective of him. Yet, everything seemed to change when Lori died during childbirth. She didn't find out later, that Carl was the one who had to kill his mother.

After that, she began to help take care of Judith. The more time she spent with her, the more time she spent with Carl. She soon began to like him and knew the feelings were mutual, even if he didn't seem to show it.

Maggie chuckled as she stabbed another one. "You know that's how it starts," She teased.

Beth made a face. "Whatever you say," She shrugged. She eyed Michonne slicing the walkers as if they were nothing.

Maggie was about to crack a joke, when she saw a large walker about the size of football linebacker, leaning against the fence in the far corner. The fence began to cave from the weight with the help of the other walkers. She cursed and reached for her gun. Beth did the same. They aimed and began to shoot the walkers that were now trying to push through the fence.

Beth shot the large walker in the face, missing the head by a few inches. She fired again, this time killing it. Maggie shot another, catching it in the head. Blood and brain matter splattered over the other walkers.

Tyreese and Sasha ran down the hill toward the fence, with semi-automatics in their hands. Both aimed and began shooting the walkers. The more they shot, the more that seemed appear. It was from all the gunfire. Glenn followed seconds later, with semi-automatic as well.

Michonne sliced the head off of a walker and then turned toward the next one. She stabbed it in the chest and shoved it into another, where she pulled out her katana. Skillfully she sliced off both of the walker's heads and then moved to the next one.

Tyreese stepped closer toward the walkers, shooting one after another, while Sasha stood beside him doing the same thing. Glenn, Maggie and Beth stood a few feet away shooting the walkers as well. It didn't take long to clear through the threat, but it certainly felt a lot longer. Every second felt like a minute and minute felt like an hour.

When the shooting ceased and all the walkers were killed, Maggie went to check on Glenn, but he told her that he was feeling okay. He approached Tyreese, who had a rough look on his face as he eyed the pile of bloodied walkers. "Such a mess," He said to him.

Glenn nodded in agreement. "Yep," He said knowing what the next step is. "Time to dig a hole and burn the bodies." Now it was when all of them would really break a sweat.

* * *

Negan found his bottle of whiskey and frowned when he saw how little he had left. Since this was his personal stash, he would have to find more on the next run. He shrugged and took a shot worth. He sat down in his chair and closed his eyes as he lit a cigar.

His room was on the larger side, since he was the leader and all he deserved a reward of some sort. In the left corner, was his freshly made bed. Above that a clock that still worked. A lamp was in the corner on top of a small wooden table. The light didn't work, but it fit the room.

There was a small bookshelf that held a number of books and notebooks full personal items. Opposite of that was an average sized desk, that he used to work at. Next to that hanging on the wall, was a large map where he had marked down different camps. Across from that covering a large portion of the wall, were about forty pictures at least of Lucille's victims.

He stood up and took a shot worth of whiskey. He laid on his bed and then closed his eyes again. He thought about the boy he had killed the day before and didn't feel bad about it. Perhaps a while ago he would have, but now, he felt nothing. He didn't consider himself a violent man, but if you stepped on his shoes, then that would be totally different.

Everyone told him that he had a unique personality and he agreed. He was considered to be with tons of different sociopath tendencies. He also had tons of engaged emotional outbursts, that usually resulted in him killing someone.

He was feared and respected as a king as well as seen as the first and last word on the activities of the group. He was the one who named it, the Saviors, because in his view that's what he wanted to bring to the world.

He knew how brutal, foul-mouthed, as well as his enormously twisted sense of humor, defined him as a character. Lucille didn't help with the case, but it sure made him feel better.

Yet with all he perilous tendencies, he also considers himself to be quite understanding of others and willing to spare those he saw as potentially useful. He was also known to be pretty reasonable when those he liked tried to negotiate with him.

He loved power games and the stronger the resistance to his will, the more he found the enjoyment in the test of those wills. The bigger the enemy, the more he anticipated a good fight and he loved to fight. So far, he was undefeated and he knew that at some point, there would be someone who be quite a challenge. But until then, he enjoyed all of his victories.

He looked at Lucille, who was leaning against his desk. He had cleaned it from all the blood, which made it seem to glisten in the light. It was almost calling out to him. Every time he looked at it, he felt an electric surge, which always intensified when he held her. The feeling grew as he killed someone in his favorite manner.

His thoughts were interrupted, when he heard a knock on the door. He sat up and asked, "Who is it?"

"Paula," She simply responded.

Negan cleared his throat and stood up. He opened the door and smiled at her as she stepped inside. "Good morning," He said

Paula looked at the bottle in his hand. "Morning," She said amused at him. "Bit early."

Negan shrugged and offered her the bottle. "My Uncle before he died, told me that he used to have a double shot in the morning and then right before he went to bed."

"Sounds like a smart man," Paula observed.

Negan shook his head. "Nah that prick was more trouble than he was worth," He said. "Beat the shit out of everyone."

"Damn," Paula said handing him back the bottle.

"It's okay," Negan shrugged. "That shit got hit by a car years ago and sadly, no one seemed to be overly saddened by it." He laughed. "Everyone hated that shithead."

Paula chuckled. "We all have family that we could relate to that."

Negan agreed with her. He drained the rest of the bottle and then placed it on his desk. "So what can I do for you?"

Paula stepped up to him. "I wanted to talk about what happened yesterday," She said to him. "About the kid."

Negan took a drag on the cigar. "What about him?" He asked.

Paula looked him in the eyes. "Are you okay?" She asked. She was one of the only ones that could discuss this with him. They had known each other for quite some time.

Negan gave her a strange look for a moment, but smiled to assure her. "Peaches," He said touching her shoulder for a moment. "Maybe when we first started this, I would have been bothered by it." He shrugged. "But you know how the game rolls. We have to make certain decisions in order to stay alive." He sat on his bed and took another hit off the cigar. "Control only works when you stay in control. The moment you let your guard down, well shit will hit the fan."

Paula nodded. "That's true." She ran a hand through her hair.

Negan cleared his throat. "Now that we have that taken care of," He said, "There is one thing I need you to do."

"Sure," She said simply.

Negan took another hit of the cigar. "Gather the troops," He said with a dangerous look in his eyes. "Time for a visit."

* * *

It took a second for Meghan to find her mother, but she saw that she was sitting by Tara's trailer. They were discussing the Governor and his latest decision. She didn't quite understand what they were talking about and what was going on, but they knew that it may have been a pretty big deal. In fact, everyone in the camp was talking about it.

Lilly saw her approach and smiled. "Everything okay?" She asked her daughter.

"How long will they be gone for?" She asked her mother.

Lilly gave her a kind look. "Not too much longer," She said gently.

Meghan sat down beside her mother. "He promised that we'd play chess," She said clearly disappointed.

Tara reached out and touched her shoulder gently. "I promise that he will be back as soon as possible," She said to her. "And as soon as he returns, you guys will be playing chess."

Lilly was unhappy about it, but she said nothing else. She shifted the doll to her other shoulder. "I'm hungry," She said suddenly.

"I have a chocolate granola bar in my room," Tara suggested. "Would you like it?"

Meghan nodded and took Tara's hand. Lilly waited outside, watching them enter the trailer. She drew a breath and then closed eyes, enjoying the feeling of the sun on her face. It was hot and humid, but she didn't really mind it. Plus, it was much better outside than it was inside the trailers. The only time it became somewhat tolerable, was at night when the weather cooled.

When she slept, she actually preferred it colder than warm. The colder the better. She liked to cuddle beneath her blanket. It felt like her personal cocoon.

A gunshot brought her out of her thoughts. She jumped to her feet and saw Tara and Meghan by the doorway, looking worried. She told them to stay put and made her way toward the source of the gunshot.

She found Mitch standing over Kyle, who had been shot in the lower abdomen. Blood leaked out of the wound. Wendy had a medical bag in her grasp and approached them. She kneeled beside Kyle and began to treat him.

"What's going on?" Lilly asked.

Mitch eyed a group of men step out from behind the trees with guns pointed at them. He cursed and aimed his gun at them, while the rest of their camp, grabbed their weapons as well. No one wanted to fight, but if it meant to defend themselves, then they would have to.

"This should be fun," Dwight said with a playful look in his eyes.

"What the hell do you guys want?" Mitch asked roughly. He took a step toward them.

"I hear you guys have an open door policy here," Dwight said eyeing the gun in his hand. They were outnumbered, but not outgunned. Plus, he didn't think that any of them could survive too long in a gunfight.

Lilly narrowed her eyes at him. "I highly suggest you guys wait until the Governor comes back" She said.

Dwight looked at Kyle, who was groaning as his wound were being cleaned up. "Your man over there," He nodded his head in that direction. "He doesn't look so good." He looked at Lilly for a moment.

Mitch took another step toward him. "That's because you shot him asshole," He snapped. "So the so called friendly aspect you think you will get here." He shook his head. "Forget about it."

Dwight was amused by him. "I see," He said dangerously. "Then what if I say that I am not here as a friend."

Alisha stepped past Lilly. "Who the hell do you think you are?" She growled.

Dwight shot her in the leg. She cried out in pain and fell to the ground, clutching her wound. Blood seeped out through her fingers. "Don't even think about it," He said pointing a gun at Mitch. "We have guns aimed at every single one of you freaks and with a snap of my fingers, they will fire."

Lilly wasn't sure if he was bluffing or not, but she didn't want to find out. She motioned for Mitch to relax and it took everything he had to do so. "What do you want?" She asked.

Dwight took a step toward her. "Half of your supplies," He said.

Mitch growled. "Are you serious shithead?" He asked.

Dwight glared at him. "I am always serious," He said narrowing his eyes at him. "So half of your stuff, is ours."

"And if we say no?" Mitch asked.

Dwight motioned toward Alisha, who was on the ground bleeding heavily. Wendy made a move to treat her, but stopped when Dwight told her not to. "I will kill every one of you." He looked at Lilly. "Except for you. You will be my personal chew toy."

Mitch was so angry that he was beginning to see red. He took a step toward him, wanting nothing more, than to fight this guy bare handed, but Lilly reached out to him. She told him to stay put once again and it took more than he had to stay put.

"You should listen to her," Dwight mocked.

Lilly knew that there was no way out of this. "Fine," She said ignoring the looks from everyone else.

Dwight smiled at her. "I am glad that we can come to an agreement here," He said. He motioned for the rest of his team. "Okay boys. Let's get some goodies."

* * *

Rick found Daryl sitting in the cafeteria area drinking water. He sat next to him with a tired sigh. He hadn't slept well or at all throughout the night. Most of it was spent sitting next to Carl in the infirmary. Part of him wanted to sleep in the bed that Deanna offered him, but he really didn't want to leave his son's side.

"How's Carl?" Daryl asked.

Rick took a sip of water. "Much better actually," He said. "I think we can leave soon and return home."

Daryl nodded. "That's good," He said.

Rick shook his head and chuckled. "It's a funny thing," He said, "Calling a prison home."

Daryl laughed. "Yeah," He said, "I spent more time trying to avoid getting arrested and tossed in the big house. It's weird as hell to think of us living there now."

Rick agreed. "Home is where you make it," He said.

Daryl laughed again. "I never liked the Hallmark bullshit," He said. "I never really had a home. Was always on the run."

Rick took a drink of water. "I understand," He said. "It must have been tough."

Daryl gave him a sudden look. "I doubt that," He said, "I bet you had a warm, cushiony household both growing up and when you were married." He paused for a moment. "And with Shane by your side." He shook his head. "Must've been good ol times."

Rick thought back to some of the moments with Shane and missed them. There was once when they were patrolling the school district about noon on a Thursday, when he saw a car full of teenagers driving around. Knowing that school was in session, he and Shane decided to tail them from a distance. They couldn't do anything to them, because playing hooky wasn't a crime.

It wasn't long before the teens gave them a good reason to stop them. It began when one of them threw some trash out a window. The driver was also smoking a cigarette. A few seconds later he tossed the empty cigarette box out the window as well. Since they didn't look of legal age, they decided to pull them over.

He pulled his car beside them and saw that there were five kids who have skipped out of school to catch some lunch. That wasn't a crime, but littering and underage smoking was. Plus, half of them reeked of weed. It didn't take long for them to find some marijuana on them.

Rick called for backup and began to arrest them, when a thumping in the trunk was heard. Upon opening the trunk, they were shocked to find a naked teenage girl in there with bruises over her body. At first they thought it was from abuse and that the teens were going to rape her, but they soon learned that the girl herself enjoyed it rough. When backup came, they arrested them all and then had a good laugh at the precinct later on.

Rick came back to his senses when he heard people talking about two newcomers who just arrived from a distant camp. He took one look at Daryl and the both of them stood up to see who these people were. Neither of them thought it was from the prison, because no one knew where they were now.

They made their way toward the front of the camp and saw Deanna talking to a tall male with an eye patch and a Spanish male, who was standing to his left. Neither of them noticed them yet, watching from the distance. Both Rick and Daryl reached for their weapons, knowing that things were about to go down.


	14. Karma

TWD: Crimson Tears

Chapter 14: Karma

As the hot sun beat down on Abraham and the sweat dripped down his face, neck, and back, he thought back to one of his favorite remedies in this type of weather. Slurpee. Any flavor, any kind. His wife made fun of him about it all the time, but he didn't care. He had a sweet tooth for that stuff. There was something about the icy slushiness that he found so addicting.

He licked his lips, almost as if he could taste the Slurpee. Rosita saw this and gave him a strange look. "What's your favorite thing to drink when it's hot as hell out?" He asked her.

Rosita thought for a moment. "Ice tea with a lemon wedge in it," She said. "That or a cold beer."

Abraham chuckled. "I'm not much of an ice tea fan," He said to her, "But beer. Definitely a big fan." He looked at Eugene who was walking by the side of the road, trying to show that he wasn't listening to their conversation. "What about you big man?"

Eugene looked at him. "I prefer water," He said quickly. "But since you guys are picking beverages that are extremely unhealthy." He frowned. "I choose chocolate milk."

Abraham gave him an odd look. "Chocolate milk?" He began to laugh almost mockingly. "You choose chocolate milk?"

Eugene thought for a moment. "I like the taste," He said with a small shrug.

Abraham continued to laugh. "Last time I had chocolate milk." He paused for a moment and ran a hand through his moustache. "Shit, I think I was still running around in diapers."

Rosita burst out laughing at his comment. "I used to drink it all the time," She told him. "My momma was a big believer in always having milk in the fridge and since I am a chocolate fan. It only made sense."

Abraham looked at Carol. "What about you?"

Carol was about to answer, when they came upon a clearing in the woods around them and saw a cabin a small distance away. She stopped walking, studying it from afar. Abraham approached, eyeing the cabin as well. Rosita was right behind him and Eugene beside her.

"What do you think?" Rosita asked Abraham. "Check it out?"

Abraham thought for a moment. "I say yes," He said looking at her for a moment. "There may even be chocolate milk in there."

Eugene gave him a strange look. "That is unlikely," He said even with the knowledge that he was joking.

Abraham didn't respond. He made his way toward the cabin, keeping an eye out for anyone or any walkers. A place like this, wasn't secluded, so there was a good chance that it was empty. But there was also a good chance that there wasn't anything of value in the house.

Rosita was to his left, Carol behind her, and Eugene behind her, all keeping an eye out for anything. So far there was nothing. All that could be heard, was the hot wind swaying through the trees. It gave the scenery an eerie look to it.

Abraham scanned the outside of the cabin. There was a man made dirt path that led toward the front steps of the porch. Two cracked windows were on either side of the front door. An old pickup truck was parked on the left side with all of its tires missing. It looked as if it hadn't been used in years.

He was about to take another step, when he heard movement from behind him in the brush of trees. He turned, expecting walkers, but saw a well-built male step out from behind the tree. He had a shotgun pointed at him.

"Lower your weapons," The man threatened as he aimed his shotgun at Abraham's face. "Now or I'll shoot."

It took a second for Abraham to realize that he, as well as everyone else had their guns out. "Calm down," He said to the man, not in the mood to fight. "We are not here to hurt you." He paused when he heard movement behind him. He glanced and saw three men exit the cabin and another from behind the pickup truck. "Shit," He cursed noticing all of them were packing heat.

"Bullshit," The man snapped. He took a dangerous step toward him. "You guys are trespassing on private property."

"We didn't mean to," Rosita interjected. She slowly began to lower her gun hoping that she was making the right decision. "We are just passing through that's all. We aren't looking for any trouble."

"No one just passes through," The man said motioning for them to lower their guns. "Not these days."

"You are right," Eugene said with a terrified look on his face. He was sweating profusely. He kept his eyes locked on the man. "No one just goes nosing around anymore. Not with the walkers everywhere." He paused for a moment. "But I am on an important classified mission that I can assure you will change the world."

The man began to laugh. "Is he for real?" He looked at Abraham, who nodded. "Well shit." He stopped laughing. "Now lower your guns."

Abraham cursed again and lowered his gun and then tossed it aside, even though every fiber in his body was telling him not to. He hated being defenseless. He stared at the man angrily as the man motioned for everyone else to do the same. Rosita tossed hers aside and then reached for her other gun. She tossed that one as well. Carol lowered her gun and then tossed it aside.

"You guys can keep your knives," He said as he motioned for one of his men to approach.

A young skinny male, no older than twenty, ran up with a bag slung over his shoulder. He gathered the weapons and then placed them in the bag. He nodded at his leader and then returned to his spot. The man began to slowly walk around them, with his shotgun still aimed at them. When his back was facing the cabin, he began to walk backward.

"Have fun on your world saving classified mission," He laughed as he motioned for his men to leave.

Abraham watched them leave with burning hatred in his eyes. Rosita stood beside him with a furious expression. Eugene stood behind them, scared that this was the end of the world. Carol stood beside him, emotionless, as she waited for the perfect moment to make her next move.

She saw that the man continued to stand there, while the rest of his crew went to the back of the cabin to get their working pickup truck. Their plan was to drive away and then return later to get their belongings.

When the truck drove by and their leader turned to jump in the back, Carol quickly reached for the gun hidden by her ankle. She shot the leader in the head, killing him immediately. She shot the two other men in the back of the truck, before the other men realized what had happened.

"What the..." The driver said reaching for his gun.

Carol shot him in the head, splattering his blood and brain matter throughout the car and front windshield. That left the last male, who jumped out of the passenger seat and hid behind the truck. The shotgun shook in his trembling hands as he uttered a silent prayer.

Carol slowly made her way toward the pickup and lowered herself to the ground. She saw his knees and shot him. He cried out in pain and let go of the gun. He grabbed his knee as the blood oozed through his fingers.

She approached him and pointed her gun at him. She was about to shoot, when she saw a wild patch of flowers beside the house. The man began to beg for his life, but she didn't care. With an intense look in her eyes, she shot him in the head, his blood splattering on the outside of the truck.

She stepped away from the truck and then looked at Abraham Rosita, who had surprised looks on their faces. Eugene took a few steps backward, almost as if Carol would shoot the rest of them.

"We got our guns back and more," She said motioning toward the pickup truck.

* * *

Tara sat beside Alisha in their trailer with a sleepy, yet nervous look on her face. She was holding her hand and thinking about the events that led to her love getting shot. Whoever these men were, were the most ruthless, conniving thieves she had ever met. From the moment she saw them, she had that feeling.

They took half of their belongings, leaving them with practically nothing and also tore through their camp like a tornado. As they searched through each trailer, they made such a mess, that it was barely recognizable. Beds turned over, cabinets and drawers emptied, and anything else they searched through was turned over. Thankfully there were no other injuries.

"Don't look so worried," Alisha said to her with a slightly drugged, yet assuring smile on her face. "I am going to be fine."

Tara smiled at her. "I know that," She said, "I'm just nervous that's all."

Alisha understood how she felt. Everyone felt that way. Now more than ever with the most recent events that have occurred. She gave her a loving smile to lighten the mood.

"I know," She said to her. She squeezed her hand affectionately. "But it's okay. We will get through this like we always do."

Tara nodded. "I hope so," She said feeling a bit better, even though she still had a nervous look on her face. She glanced at her injured leg. "How is it?"

Alisha glanced at her wound briefly. "Not too bad," She said with a small shrug. "Although I feel like I can sleep for days."

Tara chuckled. "Yeah me too," She said, "Things have been crazier than usual."

"Yeah," She agreed.

Tara shifted in her spot. "Do you think that we will move to the new place?" She asked referring to the Governor and Martinez.

Alisha thought for a moment. "I do," She said. "And I want to." She paused for a moment. "If recent events showed us anything, it is that this place isn't safe. We have to move."

"I know," Tara simply said.

"Don't worry," She said to her. "Once we get to the new camp and see what it has to offer, we will be calling it home."

Tara smiled at her and caressed her cheek with her hand. "I hope so," She said.

* * *

Rick had a scowl on his face as he swiftly approached the Governor with a single intent on his mind. Daryl was right behind him, ready for anything. The Governor noticed him immediately and a hated look grew on his face. Martinez stiffened and reached for his gun, but he didn't pull it out.

Deanna saw the animosity between the two of them and stepped in between knowing that things could easily go out of hand. "Guys," She said looking at the both of them intensely. "Whatever the issue is, this is not the place to do it."

Rick narrowed his eyes at them. "This man," He said to her. "Is not who you think he is." He drew a breath as to relax a bit. "This man is extremely dangerous, violent, and should not be trusted."

On a normal day the Governor would have let the comment bother him, especially with the two men who were standing mere feet away. But with everything that was at stake here, he had to remain calm. It took everything he had, to hold back from fighting with them.

"Rick," He said with a fake smile. "Daryl." He turned to face them, his hand by his gun, just in case he need to use it.

Rick still had the scowl on his face, while Daryl looked as if he were ready to kill them both. Both of them were thinking the same things. Why was he here? What was his plan? Was he the one who attacked them back in the store? Neither of them saw him there, but that didn't mean he wasn't there. It wasn't the first time he tried to have them killed and it wouldn't be the last.

"If you guys want to fight," Deanna continued in a scolding manner. "Then do it outside these walls far from here." She gave Rick a hardened look. She noticed that there were people watching, some in the streets and others in their homes.

Rick didn't move a muscle. He continued to look at him distrustfully, not liking the smug look on his face. He wanted to remove the look, by killing him. But as much as he wanted to, he couldn't do it. Not now at least. He owed it to Deanna for helping him with his son's injury. Carl would be dead if it weren't for them.

It took him a second to realize that he was clenching his fist so hard, that he had drew blood from oval shaped wounds in his palm. He relaxed his hand and drew a long breath. He nodded at Deanna and turned toward Daryl, motioning for to relax as well. Daryl began to protest, but then stopped short, realizing that it would do no good to fight now.

Rick's jaw quivered with fury as he backed away from them. He didn't want to turn his back on any of them, as to not get shot from behind. The Governor continued to have that smug look on his face, almost as if he were mocking him.

"Rick," Deanna began.

Rick looked at her. "I think that my son is well enough for travel," He said glancing at them again. "It is best for everyone if we leave now." He really had to bite his tongue.

Deanna gave a one moment signal to the Governor and then approached Rick. She looked him in the eyes. "I can see the hatred between you guys as clear as day," She began, "And I don't know what happened between all of you."

Rick didn't want to hear this. The more time he spent here, the more of a chance he had in succumbing to his anger and desire to kill the guy. "It is better for everyone here," He interrupted her. "If we leave." He looked at the Governor, who was standing idly a distance away watching them intently. "That man over there, is bad news."

Deanna gave him an uncertain look. "I don't know you Rick," She said. "And I don't know what happened between you guys, but I want you to do what you think is best." She paused for a moment, thinking about all the violence that they had been through. "Whatever you think is the safest for everyone."

Rick looked at her. "Thank you for everything that you have done," He said simply.

"You're welcome Rick." She looked at Daryl. "And you too Daryl. Safe travels."

Rick turned and made his way to the infirmary with Daryl following closely behind. He found Carl sitting up in bed and reading World War Z. He looked up from the book when they entered. "Hey dad," He said to them. "Daryl."

"Carl." Rick was glad that he was okay and coherent. "We need to go."

Carl saw their reactions and tone. "Why? What's going on?" He asked them.

Rick began to pack up the little that they had. "The Governor is here," He said in a dangerous tone. He looked at Carl, who grew instantly concerned.

"What?" He asked as he slid out of bed. He tossed the book where he just laid.

"Yeah," Daryl simply said. He slung his bag over his opposite shoulder.

Carl shook his head and cursed. "Why?"

Rick shrugged. "I'm not sure," He said, "But we need to leave." He approached his son and touched his shoulder affectionately. "Are you well enough to go?"

Carl felt a bit woozy and both his arm and head hurt. He was thirsty and hungry. He still wanted to sleep, but knew that he could do plenty of that once they returned to the prison. "Yeah," He simply said.

Rick left the infirmary with Daryl and Carl following closely behind. He met Deanna on the way, who told them that the Governor and Martinez were in the office, waiting for her. She told them again that all she wanted was for everyone to be safe. That Alexandria was a violence free zone.

Rick wanted to tell her that the world wasn't gumdrops and candy. That is wasn't as nice and peaceful as she made it seem. But he knew that it would do little or no good. She wouldn't understand what they had been through. The world outside was a violent and scary place, but with her behind the walls of this camp, she wouldn't understand.

She showed them to the exit of the camp and then wished them good luck. She told them that if they ever needed anything, that they were always welcome. She even gave them a bag that had some supplies in it. He took it surprised that she was being so nice. Everyone that he had met so far, always seemed to have a hidden agenda.

He didn't think that they'd ever be back here. Not with the knowledge of the Governor being here. There was no way to know what his plan was, but he knew that it couldn't be good. He thanked her and then drove away from the camp with Daryl was on his motorcycle, following closely behind. He looked at his son and gave him a thankful smile.

Carl smiled at him and then looked out the window. He watched the trees fly by, almost hypnotically. He soon grew tired and then closed his eyes to dream of better endeavors.

* * *

Deanna stepped into her office and looked at the Governor and Martinez, who were sitting by her desk. They had stopped discussing whatever they talking about, almost as if they were conversing something naughty. She gave them a polite smile and sat at her desk.

"I'm truly sorry about that," She said to him.

The Governor gave her a fake smile. "No," He shook his head. "It is I who should be apologizing. What you just saw between all of us, is old history." He wondered if she caught his lie.

She took his apology. "That must be some history then," She said resting her arms on her desk. "If you don't mind me asking, what happened?"

On a normal basis, he wouldn't have answered such a question. It was nobody else's' business. But with everything that was at stake here, he had to be open with her. He had to make sure that he did everything he could to get his camp here.

"Rick and I, well we never saw eye to eye," He began. "The moment he saw my camp and what it had, he did whatever he could to take it." He paused for a moment. "He'd kill. He'd steal." He glanced at Martinez who was sitting idly by. He knew what his plan was and why he was lying. "He went as far as destroying the very camp we were living in, just to get to me after I wouldn't give into his demands."

Deanna wasn't sure what to take from what she was hearing from him. From the little bit of time she spent with him, she didn't see him as being such a ruthless killer. But appearances could be deceiving. Rick did come to her camp with an extreme casualty after fighting. He told her that he was attacked, but he could have lied. He could have been doing the attacking.

"From the conversations I had with him," She said to them. "He didn't seem like such a bad guy."

The Governor gave her an understanding look. "Well that makes sense," He told her. "When we first met, he was the same way. But the moment he saw what we had and what he didn't have, he grew cold. Without a warning he attacked us." He paused for a moment. "He even had the hand in my daughter's stabbing."

Deanna saw his emotional response. "I'm sorry," She said to him.

"Thanks," He responded.

Deanna shifted in her spot. "Do you think he will be back?" She asked slightly anxious.

The Governor nodded. "Expect him to be back here," He said to her. "Next time with the rest of his camp."

Deanna sighed uneasily. She didn't like what she was hearing. "What about his son's injury?" She asked.

"It's simple." He told her. "Casualty of his brutality."

Deanna gave him an uncertain look. "How can I be certain that you are telling me the truth?"

The Governor looked at Martinez for a moment. "I would say that you should trust me, but since you don't know me, it would be a meaningless gesture. Instead, trust in what your eyes saw." He paused for a moment. "Casualty of war."

Deanna shook her head. "Damn," She said, wondering how big of a mistake she just made. She sighed again. "What brings you here?"

The Governor glanced at Martinez again. "Actually there is," He said, "It's about what's left of my camp." He gave her a hopeful look. "We are a few people, about a dozen or so, trying to survive in a broken camp."

Deanna gave him a confused look. "Are you still living in that same camp?" She asked him, referring to the camp that Rick destroyed.

The Governor shook his head. "No," He said, "Martinez and I are the only survivors." He paused for a moment for drama. "We live in another camp, but it is nothing like this one. We are in the middle of the open, with hardly any feeling of security."

Deanna looked into his emotional eyes, feeling bad for him. "You see, I am pretty skeptical about this," She began, "We have this whole routine on how we recruit people to this camp. Talking to me is usually the second step." She pondered the idea for a moment. "But since we are talking now, let's skip step one." She leaned forward in her spot. "What did you do before the outbreak?" She asked him.

The Governor gave her an odd look for a moment, but realized that she was most likely making small talk. "I worked in an office," He told her. "Boring job and I hated it."

She seemed amused by his answer. "You don't seem to be an office drone type," She said, "I see you more as a police officer."

The Governor didn't like her comment, but he didn't show his annoyance. "That was my dream job at one point," He lied, "But I got suckered into a desk job and got stuck there."

"Makes sense." She nodded. She looked at Martinez. "What about you?"

Martinez took a second to answer. "I worked at a church with my dad," He said to her.

"Wow," She said surprised. "Were you a priest?"

Martinez briefly nodded. "Inspiring," He said, "But that didn't last long. I was kind of a rebel at an early age."

"I can tell," She said, "Not that I am judging you guys." She had a good feeling about them. They seemed to be quite genuine. "So I have a few more questions, before I tell you about myself. After that, I'd say a tour of the place is in store."

The Governor and Martinez looked at each other with similar thoughts. "Sounds like a plan," He said to her.

* * *

The moment Rick followed Daryl's bike up toward the prison fence, he felt instantly relieved after a long and tiring drive. In fact, the whole supply run was long and tiring. He was looking forward in being back in a familiar place.

Tyreese and Michonne were by the front gate, opening it up for them. Daryl drove up and parked by the rest of their vehicles. Rick followed shortly after. He stepped out of the car and went to help Carl out, but after sleeping basically the entire trip back, he was pretty wired.

Everyone came to greet them, relieved that they returned after their absence. They all saw Carl's wound and grew concerned. Rick took Judith from Beth and gave her a kiss, happy that he was back with her. Every moment he spent away from her, felt like ages.

He looked at everyone as he made his way back toward the prison. He told them about what happened at the clothing store and the injury Carl sustained in the process. He told them about Alexandria and how they openly helped them. He ended, by telling everyone that they had bumped into the Governor there.

He then told them that the plan would be to strengthen their wall. Create random trenches around the outside to hide in. Create random traps around the inside and outside of the prison. He knew that the Governor was planning something and he had a feeling what it would be.

He would manipulate this camp in thinking that he was the bad guy and tell him that he was a major threat to their camp. That he would kill them and steal everyone in their camp if they didn't follow in his lead. Knowing that an altercation was inevitable, he wanted to be ready.

After he told them everything, they all went their separate ways. Rick, Herschel, Daryl, Glenn, and Maggie went to discuss more about the Governor and his possible plans. Tyreese and Sasha were instructed to guard the prison.

Carl went back to his room and was followed by Beth, who was worried for him. He sat on the edge of his bed and looked at her as she sat beside him. For a few moments, neither of them said a word. But after the silence, she took his hand into hers.

"I'm so sorry," She said softly.

Carl looked at her hand for a second and then at her. "Thanks," He said feeling a bit anxious.

"It must have been so terrible," She said, "Everything." She was having trouble in finding the correct words.

Carl drew a breath. "Well it certainly wasn't a walk in the park," He said to her. "But I am glad that I am alive." He thought back to the gunshots, the pain, and then him blacking out.

Beth saw his faraway and traumatized look. She touched his cheek and then turned his head toward hers. She leaned forward kissing him deeply. He seemed surprised by it at first and then deepened the kiss. When they broke apart a moment later, they were out of breath.

"I am glad you are okay," She said knowing how much worse it could have gone. She took his hand again.

Carl smiled at her. "Thanks," He said, his lips still tingling from their kiss.


	15. Of Wolf and Lamb

TWD: Crimson Tears

Chapter 15: Of Wolf and Lamb

Rick paused his work to wipe the sweat off his brow. It was late afternoon, skies were clear, and the sun beat down on them strongly. The air was thick and humid, yet there were no signs that it was going to rain any time soon.

He looked around, eyeing Sasha and Tyreese to his right, who were digging mini trenches around the prison. To his left, Daryl and Maggie were also digging trenches. Michonne, Glenn, Beth, and Hershel were fortifying the fences using rope, zip ties, more wood, and also extra layers of steel fences. Carl was inside watching Judith. He wanted to help out, even for a little bit, but Rick wouldn't let him. He told him to rest for a few days, before returning to work.

He took a deep breath and then grabbed the shovel to continue the digging. The more trenches they created, the better. He wanted them deep enough, that if walkers came, they would fall into. Around the trenches, he planned to place random stakes at an angle as to trap more walkers. He hoped to have them close enough to each other, that there would barely be enough room to safely walk through.

To enter and exit the prison, there would be only two ways, the front and back entrances. Other than that, the plan was to make the prison as impenetrable as possible. That was obviously within the whelms of their supplies. If they had brick and mortar, then they could build a wall to make the prison even safer, but they didn't so they had to settle with what they had.

Glenn used zip ties to attach the beginning of the steel roll he had to the main fence. When he finished one side, he rolled it, attaching more zip ties to it. He briefly looked up from his work and happened to see Maggie looking at him. She gave him a smile as she brushed aside her bangs.

"Do you really thing that he will return?" Beth looked at him. Michonne looked up from her work, but kept silent.

Glenn turned toward her. "Yeah," He said knowing what she was referring to.

Beth reached for more zip ties in her pocket and handed them to her dad who was tying them to the steel fence. "Damn." She shook her head. "It makes no sense," She vented, "With the walkers everywhere, you think that it would make people appreciate life more."

Herschel looked at her. "It just doesn't work that way," He said to her. "There will always be someone out there who thinks the grass is greener on the other side."

"Yeah," Beth agreed. "I just wish that we didn't have to worry about that." She looked at everyone outside of the fence who were digging trenches. "It seems as soon as we get rid of one threat, that another one suddenly appears."

"In this day and age," Herschel continued, "The only thing to do is take it one day at a time."

"Enjoy the little things," Glenn said quoting a movie he saw a while back.

Beth looked at him, liking what he just quoted. "That's true," She agreed.

Inside the prison, Carl slowly paced in the hallway, with Judith half asleep in his arms. He softly rocked her and hummed a lullaby that his mom used to sing to him when he was young. He didn't remember too much from his early childhood, but this was one of the things that he could recall clearly. In fact, it may have been his earliest memory.

Judith shifted in his arms a bit and then yawned, nearly losing her pacifier. She looked straight at Carl and gave him a small smile, before she snuggled against him. It took her hardly another minute, before she fell asleep for her afternoon nap.

Carl carefully placed her in her crib and stood there for a moment watching her sleeping peacefully without a care in the world. She knew nothing of the perils of the world around her. On paper that sounded great, but in reality she was missing out on one of the greatest adventures. Early childhood. She would grow up learning to kill walkers and avoid the survivors that want to kill her.

He turned away from her crib and returned to his room, where he sat on the edge of his bed. He drew a large breath and then reached up gingerly touching the bandage on his eye. An image of the attack flashed before him again. He lowered his hand and laid on his bed.

He stared at the wall, with a hardened expression, thinking back to everything he had been through since the outbreak. He was surrounded by death and he wasn't referring to the walkers. Too many of those he knew had died so far. He slowly fell asleep listening the sound of his sister sleeping and the thoughts of everyone that he cared about that had died so far.

* * *

The Governor felt instant relief as he pulled his car up to his camp. He stepped out of the car and sniffed the humid, hot air that he was so used to. He looked at Martinez with an excited look on his face. He couldn't wait to tell everyone the good news. They had a new home.

He began to head his way toward the camp, when Lilly, Tara, and Mitch approached all carrying heavy artillery. They all wore relieved, yet horrified looks on their faces. The Governor's expression turned to worry.

"What happened?" He asked fearing the worse.

"We were attacked," Mitch said angrily.

The Governor stiffened. "What?" He asked dreading that it was Rick's group. Alexandria was far away, but Rick was crazy and would go to any length to kill.

Lilly took a step toward him. "We don't know who they were exactly," She said to him. "But it's not like they gave us the chance."

The Governor took a step toward her. "What happened exactly?" He asked seriously.

"They were well armed and came demanding our supplies," Mitch said intensely. He was feeling horrible and wished he could've done more to avoid what happened.

The Governor looked at him penetratingly. "What?" He asked. "Is everyone okay?"

Lilly nodded. "Minor injuries," She said. "But they took most of our supplies."

"Shit," Martinez swore. "And you have no idea who they were?" His jaw quivered with fury.

Mitch shook his head. "Nope," He said. "I never saw them before."

The Governor turned away from them pissed. He had no idea if it was Rick's group or not. Martinez was the only one who knew him and he was with him the whole time. So who were these guys? Did they have any affiliation with the guys he killed on the supply run? What about Negan? Could they be part of his group?

He groaned and massaged his neck. He couldn't believe what happened. It seemed as everything was falling apart. His group was not ready for a fight. Not only did they barely have enough weapons, but their experience seemed scarce at best. It was one thing to kill a walker and there was another in killing a breathing and living person.

He thought back to his first kill and the amount of shock he was in for a while after. He could remember the face clearly and hear his cry in pain as he pounded his face in. For a while after that, he was numb, but it soon went away once he killed again. Soon it grew easier and before he knew it, he hardly felt nothing when he killed. It was just as easy as killing a walker.

Lilly stepped up to him. "You know we can't stay here much longer," She said to him gently.

The Governor turned to her. "I know," He responded. He thought of Alexandria and how Deanna invited them to stay with them. "And that is why we are going to leave right now."

Lilly and Mitch gave him uncertain looks. "Are you serious?" He asked.

The Governor looked at him. "Yeah I met with their leader and she is more than willing to accept us." He scratched at his neck. "So let's gather everyone up and spread the good word."

* * *

Dwight was hiding behind a large tree, using binoculars to spy on the Governor. He had two other men with him, who were there mainly as security. He saw him talking to the girl he was fond of and the well build man who he wanted to shoot earlier.

He couldn't hear their conversation, but he had a feeling that they were talking about him and what he did. The Governor looked pissed and he had every right to be. If he was in his shoes, he would be just as pissed, but since he wasn't he didn't care.

It was all part of the plan. A plan that Negan put together. Negan was a mastermind at that. He had no idea how he could come up with such a devious and well-structured plan. If he was the man that made the choices, it would be a one shot kill style. Go in, take what you want and leave. Just as long as you didn't get killed in the process.

He looked and saw one of his men stab a walker and quietly set the body on the ground. "We shouldn't stay here for too much longer," He said to Dwight.

Dwight returned his attention back to the Governor. "I know," He simply said. "We will leave soon." He wanted to continue spying on him, until he made his next move. He knew that he would be leaving soon and when he did, he would report it to Negan.

"It's hot as balls here," The other man muttered.

Dwight shook his head and chuckled. "That it is," He responded. "Don't worry, on the way home we can grab some ice cream."

"Asshole," The man smirked.

Dwight chuckled again. "You know it," He said without turning away from the Governor.

* * *

Carol was staring out the truck window, still able to smell the stink of the blood from the guy she shot. The truck had been cleaned with bleach and ammonia, yet in her mind she was still able to smell it. The sweet, yet thick iron smell that she had strangely grown used to over the years.

Abraham was in the driver's seat after he insisted on driving the truck. Or as he called it 'The Evil Mean Machine'. She had no idea what he was referencing to and neither did anyone else, but they also didn't care if he drove.

Rosita was in the passenger seat, holding his hand and talking about random things. She didn't really listen to them, especially with her mind elsewhere. She did think that they were really cute together and it kind of made her miss Ed. She missed the romantic part in him.

Eugene was to her right in the backseat watching everyone like a curious schoolboy. He tried to strike up a conversation with her, but after a few unenthusiastic answers he got, he gave up. He then sat there silently.

She didn't mind him, because she could tell how harmless he was. She just wished that he would grow a pair of balls and learn to defend himself. Every time there was an attack of some sort, he would turn into this shriveled up type of coward.

Abraham was a tough guy, who seemed to be a mixture of Daryl and Tyreese. He had the kindness in his eyes that she saw in Tyreese, but there was the roughened demeanor to him that Daryl had. From the little she knew about him, she could tell he was moments away from snapping.

Rosita was a lot like Maggie. A strong and somewhat independent woman, yet one to easily settle when they found the right person. Very much like when Maggie opened up her heart to Glenn.

Her thoughts were interrupted when suddenly Abraham cursed loudly and tried to control the truck as it began to swerve. The truck hit a pothole in the street, causing it to flip over completely onto its roof and then come to a complete halt.

He groaned and unclipped his seatbelt. He felt blood drip down from his head as he opened the door. He crawled out and then looked to see if Rosita was hurt at all. She had a few scratches, but seemed unhurt otherwise.

Carol's neck and back hurt a bit, but other than that she seemed fine. She looked at Eugene who seemed to have a small limp in his walk. He also was unhurt.

"Mother dick," Abraham cursed as he eyed the truck. There was smoke coming from the engine and the gas tank was dripping. Within seconds it lit on fire.

He cursed again wanting to hit something. He was pissed. It seemed that things failed regardless and there was no hope. All he wanted was to find a safe place to settle down and help find a cure for the virus, but no matter how hard he tried, he always came up short.

Rosita was about to respond, when she smelled something awful. She searched for a moment and then eyed in the far distance, a small town. She squinted trying to get a better look, but it was too far to see anything.

Carol smelled it as well and approached Rosita. She looked in the same direction as she was, but just like her, couldn't see much. She had a feeling that the smell was coming from there.

Abraham took a deep breath to relax, when the smell hit him. He saw Rosita and Carol looking in the direction of town. He saw that Eugene had binoculars, so he borrowed them to and saw the largest horde of walkers that he had ever seen stumbling around.

"Shit," He groaned.

"What?" Rosita looked at him.

"Walkers," Abraham said unhappily. "Hundreds of them." He handed the binoculars to Rosita.

Rosita took them from him. "Meirda," She cursed again when she saw all the walkers. A few of them began to head their way. "They are coming this way." She knew that it wouldn't take long before the entire horde came their way.

Abraham took the binoculars back and peered through them. "Holy hell," He said.

"How bad?" Carol asked them.

"We've got a shit storm of pure shit right in that town," He said looking at her intensely. "And we are trapped at the edge of it without a vehicle of any sort."

"Let's be thankful that we aren't trapped in the middle if that shit storm," Rosita said.

Abraham gave her a side glance and chuckled. "Yeah," He said simply.

"What's the plan now?" She asked. "Turn around and find another road?" She paused for a moment. "Which may be an issue, because this is the only road for miles."

Abraham scratched at his beard, as he thought of a new plan. Their options were quite limited now and in his opinion, the only thing to do, was to turn around the way they came.

"I'm sorry," Eugene mumbled.

Abraham, Rosita, and Carol looked at him. "What?" He asked him.

Eugene looked at him with shame and fear all over him. "I'm sorry," He said thinking that all was lost. "I lied."

Rosita was confused. "What are you talking about?"

Eugene didn't answer right away. "I lied," He said hesitantly. "There is no cure in Washington. I made it up." He lowered his head in shame.

Abraham narrowed his eyes at him. "What are you saying?" He took a few menacing steps toward him.

Eugene couldn't look at him. "There is no cure for the infection." He told them. "I made it all up."

"Why?" Rosita asked. She saw that Abraham was beginning to turn red with anger.

"Because I needed to be safe" He said looking at her. "I can't fight. Can't defend myself. But I am smarter than anyone else, so I thought that if I made up a cure, then I would get the protection I needed."

When he said that, Abraham lost it. He charged at Eugene and grabbed him by the throat. He threw him to the ground and began to choke him. He was seeing sparks and wanted to kill him. He couldn't believe that he was played.

Rosita ran up to him and desperately tried to pull Abraham off of him, but she couldn't. He was far too strong. He pushed her away with one hand and then continued to choke Eugene. Eugene was trying to break free from his grasp, but couldn't. He wasn't nearly strong enough.

Abraham grunted and tightened his grip. He wasn't seeing Eugene anymore, but instead the the man who lied to him. He continued to choke him to death, lost in his own world and didn't notice Carol approach, until he felt the barrel of her gun against the back of her skill.

Carol hardly knew any of them, but knew that cold bloodied murder was wrong. Yes, she had killed before and she could tell that both Abraham and Rosita had killed before, but that was when her life depended on it. If Abraham killed Eugene, it would be murder.

Abraham cursed and let go of Eugene. He punched him in the face hard, knocking him unconscious. He stood up and raised his arms slowly. Still seeing red, he spun around to grab the gun from her grasp, but Carol smartly took a few steps backward the moment he had let go of Eugene. The gun was still aimed at his head, but out of his reach.

He turned away from them and began to head his way in the opposite direction of the small walker filled town, ignoring the look that Carol had on her face. Rosita quickly glanced at Eugene, then Carol, and then chased after Abraham.

* * *

Rick and Daryl were sitting on the hood of the trunk, taking a break from their work for a few minutes. In the bed of the truck were large pieces of wood to use to around the trenches. They had been cutting down trees for the better part of the day.

He was feeling hot, sweaty and extremely dirty. His arms were covered in random scratches and cuts from the work. A long shower was in store.

He took a drink of water and then handed the bottle to Daryl who took it. Daryl had a faraway look as he eyed the prison fences. Maggie and Michonne were finishing up the trenches, while Tyreese and Sasha were using another vehicle to gather wood as well. It was a tedious effort in this intense heat, but was needed to be done.

"Do you think this will work?" Rick asked him.

Daryl took a drink of water. "Yeh," He simply said.

Rick ran a hand through his hair. "I just want us to be safe," He repeated himself for the hundredth time. "Nothing more." He shook his head.

Daryl had heard this talk many times in the past, yet he listened to him as if it were the first time. "You know I got your back," He replied.

Rick nodded his head. "Yeah I know," He said taking the water from him. "I still don't really like the idea of having so many walkers on our doorstep."

Daryl cleared his throat. "Devil at your doorstep," He answered him.

Rick chuckled and was about to respond when he heard a twig snap behind him in the woods. Both he and Daryl spun around, weapons quickly drawn, and searching with wild eyes for the source of the noise. They saw nothing, but that didn't prove anything.

They hopped off the truck and cautiously entered the woods scanning for the source, but so far they didn't see or hear anything else. All that could be heard was the natural sounds of the woods. Daryl motioned that he would go left, while Rick would go right.

Rick tightened his grip on his gun and searched each tree carefully. If the sound was a walker, he was ready to kill it. He approached a large tree and stepped around it slowly, but saw nothing behind it. Tree after tree he searched, yet he still found nothing. Perhaps the sound that the both of them heard was nothing.

Suddenly he heard Daryl call out to him. He turned and saw him run further into the woods. He followed him and saw ahead, about four or five trees, someone run away. Daryl shot at him with his bow, but missed striking the tree instead.

He jumped over a large fallen tree branch and then aimed his bow again. He fired and struck the guy in the shoulder. He cried out in pain and colliding into a tree roughly, sending him to the ground. Daryl was first to approach him and turned him over. He aimed his crossbow at him, ready to shoot if need be.

Rick grabbed him roughly by the front of the shirt and pinned him against the tree. "Who are you?" He asked him intensely, ignoring his painful cries. "Why are you spying on us?"

The man didn't answer, so Rick slammed him against the tree again.

"Answer him," Daryl insisted.

The man refused to answer, instead moaned in pain.

Rick tightened his grip and slammed him harder, when bullets sprayed in his direction. Both he and Daryl ducked behind other trees and searched for the source of the gunfire. He saw another man dart from one tree to another and in the process shot him. The man landed on the ground, withering in pain.

Daryl peered around the tree he was hiding, when someone else shot at him. He quickly turned away, making sure that he wouldn't get struck from the bullets. Rick shot in the direction of the shooter, but missed.

Tyreese, Sasha, Maggie, and Michonne approached cautiously and hid behind trees beside them. Rick glanced at them and motioned that the shooter or shooters were hiding a few trees away. They nodded and then spread out to surround the possible shooters.

It didn't take long to completely surround them and then finally disarm them. There four in total. Three males and one female. They rounded all of them up and placed them in front of the tree where the first male was spotted.

Rick stood in front of them with a menacing look on his face. Daryl and Maggie was to his right, while Tyreese, Sasha, and Michonne was to his left. He eyed each of them for a moment, before he finally began.

"Who are you guys?" He asked as roughly as he could. His jaw quivered with fury with every word. "Why were you spying on us?"

None of them answered.

Rick took a step toward the middle guy. "You were the first one I saw out here," He saw to him. "Why are you here?"

Once again, none of them answered.

Rick took a deep breath. "Fine you guys want to do it this way," He said pointing his gun at them. "Get up."

None of them moved, so Rick grabbed the first man and pulled him to his feet. He shoved him in the direction of the prison. Daryl and Tyreese helped pull the others to their feet as well. They pushed them toward the prison as well.

A few minutes later they were all placed in a single cell far away from everyone. Rick and Daryl had taken the first male they caught and placed him in another cell. He was handcuffed to the bed. They stood in front of him and stared at him for a few moments, before beginning.

"Who are you and what were you doing out there?" Rick asked again.

The man looked at him but didn't say anything. He had long greasy hair, a short goatee, and molding teeth.

"There are many ways I can do this," Rick continued, "And in the end, you will tell me what I want to know."

The man chuckled and shook his head. In the process, the W carved into his forehead came into view.

Daryl saw this and pointed to his head. Rick pointed to it. "Why do you have that carved on your forehead?' He asked.

The man didn't answer.

Daryl punched him in the face. "Answer him," He barked.

The man narrowed his eyes at him. "It's my initial," He said with a twisted smile.

Rick punched him this time. "Don't play around," He snapped, "Answer my question."

"It's my initial," He repeated almost playfully.

Daryl punched him on his wounded shoulder. "Stop playin," He said.

The man laughed in their faces without a care in the world. Rick motioned for Daryl to follow him out to the hall. He paused for a moment and then said, "We need to find out who they are and what their motives are."

Daryl nodded in agreement.

"So we need to do whatever it takes to get that information," Rick continued with an intense look in his eyes. "Are you ready for that?"

Daryl glanced at the man in the cell, who was watching them with a playful look in his eyes. "Yep," He responded. "Whatever it takes."

Rick looked at the man as well. "Good," He said, "Because things will get messy."


End file.
